Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven
by High Serpent King
Summary: Sequel to QOS: Animals Within. At Hogwarts, deep in the Chamber of Secrets or Slytherin Chamber as the seekers know it, lies a magic once used by the founders. Can the four seekers get to it alive? Complete
1. A Dull Summer Adventure

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

Welcome back to all my faithful readers and reviewers out there. Here is the sequel to both Elements of Transformation and Animals Within. If you haven't read any of those then this story will make very little sense.

Character Summaries, for those who need refreshing or just to like reading bios, these are the bios of our four favorite friends that make up The Seekers.

_Tyler Solemn Slytherin_

_Age: 13 _

Birthday: August 30 

_Hair: Black, tamable, said to be wavy_

_Eye Color: Black, said to wear his emotions_

_Wizarding Blood: Pure Blood, 2 magic parents_

_School House: Slytherin_

_Personality: Tricky, Cunning, Strongly willed, Action loving, great determination, Can be emotional, friendly, joker, handles pressure nicely, can be really stubborn_

_Summary: Tyler is best described as a loner who has been in the process of becoming very social. He has had the experience of being alone since he had no friends or siblings growing up. He lives in his family's mansion with his parents, house-elf and snake familiars. The youngest heir of Salazar Slytherin alive and the bearer of his wand. He is also a parselmouth or someone who knows how to speak to snakes. He doesn't however have the beliefs in blood purity like a good duration of the pure blood populous. The bestest friend of Jacke Walker. Best friends with Brad Carter and Reggie Falkner. Also, great friends with Severus Snape, Regulus Black, Morgan Stellers and Matthew Carroway_.

_Jacke Ronald Walker_

_Age: 13_

_Birthday: March 15_

_Hair: Red, wavy, straight_

_Eye Color: Blue_

_Wizarding Blood: Pure Blood, 2 magic parents_

_School House: Gryffindor_

_Personality: Courageous, friendly, adventurous, laughing nature, noble towards friends, can be stubborn, fun loving, very emotional when angry or extremely sad_

_Summary: Jacke is best described as a person that tries to find light in every dark corner. He tries to make good things thought up and happen in bad times. He had come from a family with no siblings for him so he was alone coming into Hogwarts until his meeting with Tyler. He lives in a regular street in an innocent looking house that's been enchanted to expand on the inside. Like in Tyler's bio, he doesn't believe in thinking that blood is important. The bestest friend of Tyler Slytherin. Best friends with Brad Carter and Reggie Falkner. Also a good friend with Regulus Black._

_Reginald Kalvin Falkner_

_Age: 13_

_Birthday: November 29_

_Hair: Blond, neatly combed to the side and occasionally the front and back_

_Eyes: Gray_

_Wizard Blood: Half-Blood, 1 wizard father, 1 muggle mother _

_School House: Ravenclaw_

_Personality: Book smart, logical, clever, prefers to follow regulation, likes order, funny at times, freezes at pressure, attentive, politely friendly_

_Summary: Reginald or Reggie, as his friends call him, can be best described as the voice of reason for their group. He is the one that looks out for the important obligations that the seekers have to do or think about. He has been having good influence for the group in terms of working but he has been starting to lighten up gradually and have more fun and humor. He has a little secret about himself that the seekers are unaware of. (ANI did put a very unnoticeable clue about it in the last chapter of my previous story) The bestest friend of Brad Carter. Best friends with Tyler Slytherin and Jacke Walker. Also a friend to Regulus Black._

_Brad Nicholas Carter_

_Age: 13_

_Birthday: June 4_

_Hair: Brown, short_

_Eyes: Brown, said to match his hair_

_Wizard Blood: Muggleborn, 2 muggle parents_

_School House: Hufflepuff_

_Personality: Curious, loyal, hard working, likeable, dependable and can be dependable, considerate, polite, sensitive, may be too trusting_

_Summary: Brad can be described as the glue that holds their group together. During fights and tragedies he knows just how to make someone feel better. Coming into Hogwarts when he just figured out what he was, was a big step for him that was made easier when he met his friends. The bestest friend of Reggie Falkner. Best friends with Tyler Slytherin and Jacke Walker. A friend to Regulus Black._

I think I've kept you waiting long enough so here's High Serpent King's story. Also, remember that dialogue in slanted words is parseltongue......unless it's a spell.

(---)

Chapter 1: A Dull Summer Adventure

The Great Down Mountains in Sussex were a lovely sight, very peaceful and open too. The area was filled with August air and it seemed like a normal and stable place. However, unknown to most people, there is a mansion and not any mansion but the Slytherin Family Mansion. Right now, in a room that was letting off a set of glows was a young 12 year old boy on the verge of 13, who was a wizard. That boy is Tyler Solemn or really called Tyler Slytherin.

Tyler was in the middle of his big room training with his elemental powers. He was letting out little orbs of lightning and trying to manipulate them into streams and surround him. He was getting good with manipulation his own created lightning but he was trying to get it to respond faster to his wants. Watching his training were his pets of a brown owl by the name of Pandy short for Pandemona and an emerald green snake known as Chaos. These pets were gifts he received when he had turned 11 and started going to the wizarding school of Hogwarts.

Tyler was a parselmouth meaning he was able to understand snake language and speak it as well as if it were a second language. He and his family were always hiding what they were because of the belief that most of their world has on their kind of people. Popular belief is that parselmouths were generally supposed to be the darkest and foulest of wizards. Should anyone personally know the Slytherin family then they would say that it was a load of rubbish.

Tyler was practicing this bit of training for at least an hour almost everyday since he had gotten home from his latest year in Hogwarts. His second year wasn't a year that someone looking back on would say was quite pleasurable. Tyler felt that he was lucky that he came out of this year without consequence considering what had happened. His previous Defense against the Dark Arts teacher had tried to capture and bring him in to the ministry as a dark wizard catch. This wizard also happened to be the official who brought down his great grandfather years ago, which had resulted in making the family become more private and less social.

Tyler was trying to forget that loser of a wizard and just try to have a good time at his house but it was proving tricky. He was feeling quite bored with being back home. The only thing that was exciting was whenever he was training with his father, Chaos or training by himself. Other than those things then Tyler would just lounge around in the mansion or the grounds counting the days until his birthday and September 1st. He did enjoy the training that he got though. His dad and Chaos were his partners for parseldueling and Tyler was getting the hang of being offensive during battle and how to defend himself and his snake as well and they all were having fun whenever they did this. Tyler was privately training with his elemental powers and his snake animagus form and he was careful that his parents didn't find out or they would know that he'd been through the secret chamber of the mansion and it would generate questions.

'For one thing, they would want to know if anyone knows about this and they have some way of making me crack every time I'm caught in a lie,' he thought as he swirled the lightning with his hand as if it was the wind.

Tyler had been in through the secret chamber under the mansion, which was known as the "Deep Level". This chamber contained many artifacts, spells, rituals, and other powerful magics both light and dark. This chamber was guarded by a snake called 'Guardian', which Tyler had met last year and he was entrusted to guard the chamber from thieves and poachers in service for the Slytherin family. Tyler had gone down there twice and had found a book on transforming yourself into an animagus his previous year and also a book on becoming an elemental the year before that.

Tyler used the knowledge he gained and he had shared it with his three closest friends. He stopped his training to gaze at the picture of four wizards in different house robes on his bedtable. The four people were all waving and laughing in the picture, which made Tyler smile in response on its gaze. The people in the picture were his friends Jacke Walker, Reggie Falkner, Brad Carter and himself. Their friendship was what most people at Hogwarts would call...unheard of. All four of them were in different houses. Brad being in Hufflepuff house, Reggie being in Ravenclaw house, Jacke being in Gryffindor house and him being in Slytherin house.

Tyler, Jacke, Reggie and Brad were very close and they had even formed their own group calling themselves the Seekers. They came up with their name over the fact that they were the seekers on their house teams so it seemed to fit with them. Out of all of the seekers, Jacke was the one that Tyler felt the closest too. They had similar tastes in fun, excitement, study (being that they are annoyed by it) and action. He could count on Jacke to back him up whenever he needed it and he proved it to Tyler a little more than a month ago. Reggie was the one who could always point Tyler on the right track even if he didn't like how it looked. Reggie also would make sure that Tyler tried to stay out of trouble and was someone who would help in looking out for him though Tyler could see that some of himself and Jacke was rubbing off on him and he was starting to lay back and have more fun. Reggie also proved that he was really a best friend when he helped save him the past June. Brad was the one that someone could just talk to and he was deeply loyal to his friends. He was very considerate of the other seekers and knew just what to say to help anyone. Brad proved himself last June as well with Jacke and Reggie saving Tyler from their former defense teacher. They were the best friends that Tyler or anyone could ever have but their circle of friendship was not easy with the fact that they belonged in different school houses.

The houses in Hogwarts had a history of being in a complicated rival relationship. There was a lot of tension especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Tyler's own ancestor was one of the school's founders and was the one that his own house was dedicated to. The Slytherins were always in conflict with the other three houses. Tyler didn't have anything against anybody outside his house unless they had a reason that they should be. Tyler didn't deny that he knew the reason why Slytherins were outnumbered in the conflict 3 to 1. He had seen many of his fellow housemates being complete gits to others outside their house for reasons that were completely stupid. In fact, there were only four slytherins in the school who he kept in regular contact with and they are Matt Carroway, Regulus Black, Morgan Stellers and Severus Snape.

These four were the only slytherins who befriended Tyler and looked past the fact that he had friends in other houses. Most of the others looked at him like the house oddball and tried not to socialize with him, which was fine on Tyler's mind because he wouldn't cry about it. Tyler thought more on his circle of friends and seekers until he heard his mother's voice.

"Tyler! Tyler! Dinner's ready! Come on down!"

"I'm coming!" he said. "Pandy, fly on my shoulder."

His owl friend flew to his left shoulder before he turned to his snake.

"_Chaos, slither and hook yourself on my other shoulder and arm mate._"

Chaos went to Tyler's offered hand and circled onto his arm going up and resting his head on Tyler's left shoulder with the rest of his body wrapped on his arm.

Tyler headed down to the dining room where he saw his mother, father and the family house-elf setting down for dinner.

"Tyler, I have some good news."

"Yeah dad?" he asked settling himself in.

"We're taking you to Diagon Alley in two days. Your school list just arrived an hour ago."

"Really, great. Is it okay if I owl my friends and see if we're able to meet?"

"Er...don't see no reason why not, go ahead."

"Thanks dad."

After Tyler finished his food he went to his room and copied the exact letter three times.

_Jacke (Brad for Brad, and Reggie for Reggie's letter),_

_I'm going to be in Diagon Alley on Sunday. I was wondering if we would be able to meet there so I could take care and buy all your wands when you go to get new ones but if not then I'll give it to you on the train. Tell me if you can._

_Tyler_

"Pandy, Take these to my fellow seekers please?"

Pandy gave a hoot with a nod and extended his leg. After Tyler tied the letters on, he gave Pandy a sugar owl treat and let him out.

Later in the night, Tyler couldn't help but feel anxiety over waiting for his friends' replies or for the upcoming trip to Diagon Alley. It had been very dull for the past 1 and ½ months. Tyler couldn't help but feel that his cousin was to blame for his boredom. Voldemort had been a major thing in the paper about a week after Tyler returned home from school. It was said that his cousin had gotten some devious allies and they were the creatures known as The Dementors. Tyler's family knew about Dementors all to well.

Before his cousin's reign, the dementors were fully under the Ministry's control and had guarded Azkaban prison. The reason that his family had personal knowledge of them was because Tyler's great grandfather Balder Solemn Slytherin was given the Dementor's Kiss, which meant that the dementor sucked his soul out through his mouth when he was revealed to be a parselmouth.

Also, his father was in a bad mood when he heard of this big news. He had called him a disgrace to the parselmouth heritage and how he was helping to make our lives more complicated and dangerous. Tyler's family always had to be secretive and cautious even before Voldemort's actions. His father and grandfather explained that their ancestor Salazar Slytherin, whose wand that Tyler now has, had made it disgraceful and unsafe to live in public and without so much protective secrecy that the family had to make a new last name. Tyler heard the stories from many sources and couldn't help but feel annoyance and anger for his ancestor for making him live in secrecy and isolation from the very day he was born.

Anyhow, most of the sporting events and other big public activities were cancelled or postponed because of this new dark alliance meaning that there was little that Tyler could do other than be bored. However, with this trip to Diagon Alley on his mind, Tyler treated it like he was going to be seeing quidditch celebrities. Tyler was told to go to sleep but he couldn't bring himself to sleep. He was just too preoccupied by the announcement that they were going to Diagon Alley in over 1 day.

Tyler ran his hands through his hair and caught sight of the snake key attached to his arm chain. He instantly remembered what Reggie had said right before he had come home.

"_Should we expect another surprise_?" he had said.

'Maybe I should give in and get another surprise. It's kind of become tradition that I do bring one.' he thought proudly.

Tyler took a lantern and made a spark with his finger to light it. He started to creep through the house listening for any signs of his mom or dad. He went very slowly and was steady in his steps. He made it to the iron door without difficulty and then removed the key off his chain. He inserted it in and turned it, which made the door click and open revealing the "Deep Level." Tyler had been here before but it was still as exciting as his first time was.

'It's been so boring that a new paint color would be an exciting adventure,' he thought with anxiety.

He looked through the rows of books that he had been through before and kept his eyes and ears peeled for any sign of the Guardian snake that protected this chamber. Tyler looked at a few of the titles and a few were mostly on some ancient legends and various historical events until he ran into a section that he recognized. He had run into the section of transformations that he had gotten two books out of previously. In his opinion, he got the best two books that were there because the others had mostly transformations that seemed a little too corny or useless.

"Well, there's no reason to stay here," he said to himself. "I already got the best transformations this shelf is going to give up. Might as well move on."

He decided to go straight so he wouldn't get confused on what he searched in already. The little quest he was on was starting to get a little dull and he was starting to think that maybe he should get going. He let out a yawn and started to walk while he rubbed his eyes so he could keep them open.

'I don't want to spend the rest of the night looking through every single interesting book I come across.'

He turned to leave but then realized that when he was rubbing his eyes he had gotten himself turned around.

'Great, I now wish that this chamber wasn't so big. Okay...I think I came in from this way or...was it that way.'

He went through the rows and sections of books until he started to breathe hard from frustration.

'Darn! How am I going to get out of here? Maybe I should yell to see if Guardian is around unless he's sleeping again.' He started to chuckle when he remembered what the watchful snake had told him last year. But before he could start screaming Guardian's name, he saw a glowing exhibit that captured his eyes.

"I...think I remember that stuff," he said quietly.

He did remember it. He had seen it before slightly on his very first time coming into the "Deep Level" chamber 2 Christmas' ago. He moved over to the group of display cases, which were big and went up against the entire long wall and was awed at the stuff inside. There were shields of many metal colors and shapes. There were designs of great beasts and radiating magic. There were also swords and knives of numerous markings and designs, which made Tyler eyes, squint to make himself believe that what he was seeing was real. Other weapons such as spears, lances, axes, battle hammers, bows were also there.

'By Merlin, there are things here that would suit an entire army,' he thought in awe.

He went up the row of displays until he caught sight of a brighter part of the row, brighter than the rest. When he got to it he saw that the light was all focused onto a small fine polished wooden box. Tyler tried to open it but when he touched it a blue glow appeared and sent out a wave throughout the aisle like it was a river.

"_Whose there_?!!" shouted a snake voice.

"_Guardian! Is that you_?"

A long brownish snake came out of hiding to face Tyler but Tyler knew he shouldn't be threatened by him. This was Guardian. The snake entrusted to guard the items kept here for the Slytherin Family.

"_Oh, young Slytherin, such an honor to see you again_."

"_Hello Guardian. It's a real pleasure to see you again after all this time. How did you find me here anyway_?"

"_Oh, the cases have a special charm on it forbidding anyone to take anything from there. I came to see if a thief was here but seeing it was only you has eased me. The only way to get into it is to use your key to touch the case and it will open for you_."

Tyler took his key and moved it to the plastic case like he would a keyhole. When the tip touched the glass covering it let out a glow at the tip and the glass covering magically disappeared.

"_Wow, Thanks Guardian_."

Tyler looked back at the box that had caught his attention before. For some strange reason, he seemed like he needed to get that box. It was as if a part of him felt a complete...happiness and ease with it. He got it and looked at the box and noticed that it had no lock or anything sealing it so he raised the lid. Inside the box was a velvet cushion and there were four thin spaces and in three of them were wands. The fourth was empty but made it clear that there was supposed to be a wand there. The strangest thing was that on the bottom space, next to each wand place, were the symbols of the Hogwarts houses. However, Tyler noticed that the spot with the Slytherin crest was the spot where there was no wand at all.

"_Guardian, do you know what are these wands are for_?"

"_Oh, I see you have found possibly the most priceless magical items in the entire chamber_."

"_They're just wands and you can get them easily at any wand maker's shop_."

"_Oh, but they're not ordinary wands. Those wands are the ones that originally belonged to the founders of Hogwarts_."

"_What?! You can't be serious_!"

"_I don't have a sense of humor young master_."

Suddenly, Tyler got the meaning of the crests being where they were. The wand above the Gryffindor lion crest had to belong to Godric Gryffindor, the founder who created his friend Jacke's house. The wand above the Ravenclaw eagle crest had to belong to Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder of Reggie's house. The one above the Hufflepuff badger crest had to belong to Helga Hufflepuff, the founder of Brad's house. Tyler saw the spot with the Slytherin serpent crest and then took out his wand from his wand holster. He put it in that spot and saw that it fit perfectly. Tyler couldn't believe that he was holding all the wands of the Hogwarts Four in his very hands. But still, something didn't add up.

"_Guardian, how did these wands come to the family's possession_?"

"_I have no idea. No one alive truly knows how that has come to pass. All I know is that the Slytherin family kept the wands for generations and after the family prophecy came to pass they've only taken out the wand of Salazar Slytherin for the trials_."

"_Guardian, don't you know that I'm the one who is the wand heir of Salazar Slytherin_?"

"_You are?! I'm sorry, I didn't know. Perhaps it was fate that you now found these wands_."

"_What am I supposed to do with them?_"

"_My best advice is, like your wand, find 3 wizards who are best destined for these wands_."

"_Find wand heirs of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw? How am I going to..._" Then the answer hit Tyler just like one of his bolts of lightning. "_Guardian, I think I know just the wizards for these wands_."

"_You just can't choose randomly young master. You have to feel it and sense that the ones you are thinking are the ones. Do you trust yourself completely with whom you've chosen_?"

Tyler searched his feelings to see if the three people he had chosen would be the ones who he knew the wands would accept.

"_Guardian, I'm certain_."

"_Well, then I'll accept your choice_."

"_Guardian, may I ask one more question before I go_?"

"_Certainly_."

"_Well...I'm a little you show me out_?"

"_Er...Slytherin, the exit is right over there_."

Guardian pointed his head behind Tyler and he saw that up ahead was light from the torches of the corridor outside the "Secret Level's" door.

"_Oh_."

Tyler went to shut the display case door when something else caught his eye. On the spot where he had picked up the wand box was a piece of parchment.

'Hmm,' he thought reaching and picking it up. 'This was under the wands...maybe I should take this too, but I'll look at it later.'

"_Thank you for your assistance Guardian. I only ask that you still keep this a secret from my parents_."

"_Don't worry, it's not my place to tell when anything is taken unless it's been stolen. You're not stealing that because as you are a Slytherin then you have full access to anything here. But before you go, may I ask you a question_?"

"_Okay Guardian, I owe that much_."

"_Who might I ask did you choose for the three wands? What are their names_?"

"_They're the three other members of the Seekers who happen to be my best friends. Jacke Walker, Reggie Falkner and Brad Carter_."

Then Tyler headed out and carefully headed back to his room unnoticed.

(---)

**End** **of Chapter 1 **

Tigercub15: Here's the one you were waiting for. I hope I gave you something you liked.

Author Notes

Well, here it is, the start of my third story in my series. Big thing in the next chapter. The trip to Diagon Alley and the reunion of the Seekers after the long summer. Will the wands except Jacke, Reggie and Brad? The next chapter will be started on, Chapter 2: The Wand Heirs of Hogwarts.

Also, today is my birthday. So, if anyone feels considerate enough, give me a review as a present, thank you.

Review, please.


	2. The Wand Heirs of Hogwarts

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

Chapter 2: Wand Heirs of Hogwarts

Tyler had woken up the following morning and found Pandy at his perch, sipping water from his water bowl with three letters on his leg. He untied them and read each one from his fellow seekers. According to each one, all of their parents agreed to go to Diagon Alley that day, since their school letters came the previous night from school owls. Tyler couldn't wait to meet with Jacke, Reggie and Brad and present them with the wands inside the box. He only hoped that the wands chose them like his had chosen him.

When Sunday had rolled in, Tyler went through all of his morning choirs and activities like there was no tomorrow. He wanted to go to meet his friends so badly that he felt like he had the energy to battle a whole army. His parents saw this and tried to calm Tyler down telling him that they would go at 1 o'clock no matter what but that didn't really help at all. It just made Tyler look at his watch every other minute counting down the time along with it.

Eight minutes before they were set to leave, Tyler was sent to get himself ready. He put on his Hogwarts robe with the Slytherin crest and colors open over a black shirt and jeans. Then he put on his wand holster and placed the other three wands in there with his. He put different color bands on them so he could tell which wand was which so he wouldn't be mixed up when he gave them to his friends. However, he made sure that his cloak covered them up so that his parents wouldn't see them.

His parents were already in the study dressed and ready.

"Okay Tyler, do you have your list with you?"

"Yes dad."

"What about your wand for protection?"

"Don't worry mom, got it right here," he said patting his side where his wand was underneath his robes. "Mom, Dad, Is it okay if I brought some of my money for a little spending?"

"Well...okay, but nothing too crazy."

"Deal."

"Alright Nora, Tyler, I have the portkey," which was a pocket watch "right here which will take us over to the gate in the back of Leaky Cauldron. In one minute it should take us there so grab on."

Tyler and his mother held out for the watch portkey that his father had out but before they were about to be going, Chaos and Tyler's father's familiar snake Serpentine came slithering in the room with pleading faces.

"_No, Serpentine, Chaos, You two can't come with us_," his father said shaking his finger.

Chaos and Serpentine both bowed their heads in disappointment and slithered out of the room.

"Dad, I think that Chaos and Serpentine have been bored just like most of us and are a little jealous that we're going out to have quality time and fun."

"Yeah, but it won't be fun if someone sees them and gets the wrong idea on us especially these days. Now watch. Only 15 seconds."

Then, after 15 seconds the portkey let out a glow and there was the familiar feeling of being tugged really fast in one direction until they made a stop at the wall, which was the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley at the back of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Tyler, in order to get to open the gate you must take your wand and tap the third brick from this metal bin."

His father went to the third brick from the garbage can and tapped it with his wand and the brick wall started to disappear revealing Diagon Alley. It was full of witches and wizards shopping but Tyler noticed that there were a few that moved their heads around like they were expecting something to attack them and had their wands ready in their hands.

Tyler's dad saw this and put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on, don't let this tense attitude ruin your day. Let's just take this time to forget all the trouble and just have a good time especially you and your friends, okay?"

"Okay."

First, the Slytherins went over to Gringotts to withdraw some money to use. Tyler loved going on these carts. He loved the way they turned and sped through the maze of tunnels that made the Gringotts Vaults. He just laid back and let the air blow at his face and looked on at the series of vaults and passages until they stopped at their family vault. Tyler's mom filled a moneybag with bronze knuts, silver sickles, gold galleons to spend. They then went back into the carts to leave Gringotts.

"Tyler," his mother Nora said. "Comb your hair and fix it up. It's all messy."

Tyler touched his head to discover that letting himself be blown by the tunnel winds made his hair all messed up. He ran his fingers through it and made it look decent, at least it didn't look like he had vines for hair.

"Where to first?"

"Well, Pandy needs some more treats and we could get some for our family owls too."

"I agree Simon. Let's go to the Owl Emporium first."

"Alright."

They stepped into the shop where the place was filled with the sounds of owls of many breeds screeching and hooting. Tyler went to the food shelf and got Pandy's favorite blend of sweet owl treats and when he went to head to the counter he accidentally bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," Tyler started until he dropped his jaw and then broke into a humongous smile at the person who he had collided with. "Severus!"

His old friend Severus Snape who had left Hogwarts after his first year at Hogwarts looked nearly the same as he had when he last saw him. His hair was a little longer and still a little greasy looking, his skin was a little paler but he still looked pretty much the same. He gave a ghost of a smile to Tyler but he knew that he would've smiled even deeper if they weren't in a public place.

"Tyler! Well, it's great to see you. I wasn't expecting to bump into you for some time."

"I can't believe it. What are you doing here?"

"Er...shopping Tyler," he said in the most obvious tone of voice that Tyler had ever heard.

"Oh,"

"Well, anyway, it's still good to see you. You've grown a little from when we last met. It's been a while."

"Yeah, ever since the end of your 7th year I believe. Come with me, I want you to meet my parents."

Tyler took Severus over to where his parents were looking at grooming combs and they looked over at them.

"Tyler, we...oh, whose your friend?" his mother asked.

"Mom, Dad, this is my friend Severus Snape, he left Hogwarts after my first year. Severus," he said turning to his friend. "My father Simon Solemn and my mother Nora Solemn."

"Please to meet you both," Severus said reaching for their hands.

When he and his father shook, his dad spoke. "Snape? Ah, yes, I remember, I knew your mother at school."

"You did?" said Severus.

"You did?" Tyler said.

"Not too well though, I only knew her by appearance."

Tyler noticed that his dad looked a little observant of Severus, not too different than Professor Arnold had looked at him his previous year.

"Well, I must be off. It was great seeing you again Tyler. I hope we'll see each other again. Give my best to Regulus and Matt."

Then he turned and left the shop. Tyler was happy at seeing his friend again. When his mother took the things to the counter to be paid for, his father pulled him aside.

"Tyler, how close are you to Severus Snape?"

"He...was a real help to me during my first year when I was having trouble adjusting, he looked out for me. Why?"

"Tyler, I did know his mother by appearance. His mother was a good expert at the dark arts. She was one of Slytherin House's darkest and dodgiest witches at the time. You shouldn't be hanging around with him."

"But dad...he's my friend. He was like a big brother to me at school."

"Yeah, I understand that...but...well, I've seen his type and they're the ones who most likely become associated or part of people like the Death Eaters." Tyler felt a pang in his stomach since he knew that Severus had joined the Death Eaters because of his father's influence. His mother also could've had something to do with it as well. Come to think of it, Severus never really did mention her. He just kept going on about his father made him do this and that.

"Dad, you hate for us being judged, right?"

"Yeah?"

"So, why are you judging Severus by his mother?" Tyler knew that that was going to win over him.

"I guess you're right. But, I'm only looking out for you. If you suspect he becomes a Death Eater anytime soon please tell me and/or distance yourself from him, okay?"

"Okay," Suddenly Tyler was very grateful that he didn't say that he was indeed a Death Eater. He felt Severus wasn't bad on the inside even though he seemed like it. He still was set on showing Severus that he was making a mistake for letting his father make him join.

"What's going on?" His mother had gone over to them after paying for their things.

"Nothing Nora. Just listening to Tyler tell me about his friend that we just met."

"Oh, well he seems like a fine young man. Very polite with the introduction like a gentlemen."

"Yes quite. Come, We still have more to buy. We should head to Florish and Blotts next for Tyler's school books and then get some Floo powder and refreshments for his potions kit."

"Mom, what time is it?" Tyler asked suddenly.

"It's 2 o'clock Tyler, why?"

"Well, I'm meeting my friends at the ice cream parlor now. Is it okay if you go without me so I could hang out with them for a bit?"

His parents seemed to be thinking about it together silently until his mother spoke.

"Of course Tyler. We do have other things to pick up other than what I just said. We'll go over there and pick you up in one hour, understand?"

"One hour, you bet."

"Okay, careful son, and don't stray into Knockturn Alley."

"Don't worry dad, I will and won't."

Tyler and his folks separated from each other and headed off in separate directions. His parents headed for Florish and Blotts while Tyler headed to Florescue's Ice Cream Parlor. When Tyler arrived, he saw three very familiar people, who like him were in their school robes open with clothes underneath, already there having some ice cream cones.

"Jacke, Reggie, Brad, great to see you. Are you happy to see me?"

They turned to look at their fellow seeker. Jacke looked a little taller than when Tyler last saw him. He was about an inch taller than him now. His red hair was a little longer towards the back of his head but other than that he hadn't changed. Reggie's height was about the same making him a tad shorter than the other three but hardly anyone could tell unless they were sizing them up. His hair was thicker and had gotten quite curly towards the front to the middle making him look a little older than he seemed. Brad was always the shortest one but seemed to get a little of his growth spurt started. He was just as tall as Tyler was now. His brown hair had a few spikes on it giving him a cool look. On the other seeker's analysis, they saw that Tyler hardly grew any taller over the summer. His hair was longer all around and wasn't too neatly groomed. Thanks to the Gringotts' carts, his hair had thick strands flattened and pushed forward but were happy to see him.

"Tyler, mate. We were starting to think you might show," Jacke was smiling a little foolishly but it made Tyler start mimicking it.

"Are you three going to just stand there or what?" he said in a joking matter.

Jacke, Reggie and Brad went to Tyler and all four of them went into a friendly group hug.

"Where are your parents?"

"Oh, we all separated from them to come here like we said we would in our letters."

"Same here Reggie. Let me join you guys."

Tyler bought himself a mint chocolate chip cone and began eating it with his friends.

"It's great to be out with you guys. I've been trapped at my home grounds ever since I got back."

"Yeah," said Jacke. "I haven't gone out of my house too much either. My parents are playing it safe especially with the news."

"Yeah, Voldemort getting those Dementors on his side," Brad said with a glum look.

"You heard about it?" Reggie asked to the hufflepuff seeker.

"I made a subscription to the Daily Prophet. I had a lot of explaining to do to my parents since they decided to read it too. But, I managed to make it sound less serious than it actually was. If they knew how truly terrible Voldemort is, then they'll never let me go to Hogwarts."

"Sorry about that," Tyler said.

"It's okay. It's not your fault, it's his. By the way, how is your family dealing with stupidness anyway?" Brad asked cleverly since they were still in public.

"Oh don't get me started on my dad. He's as mad as hell over what my cousin has been up to lately. Me, I've been annoyed with my cousin since I've spent my time being bored at home since the wizard community cancelled or postponed almost everything good. But I'm not going to spoil this time talking about my idiot cousin, let's just enjoy ourselves."

They just sat at a table eating happily in silence until Brad spoke.

"Hey guys, I noticed that in our school letters, there were permission slips about visiting the village of Hogsmeade. I've never heard of it."

"Never? Oh right," Tyler said immediately embarrassed for not remembering that Brad didn't grow up learning about wizarding life until 2 years ago.

"It's the best Brad," Jacke said saving Tyler some embarrassment. "It's a complete wizard village."

"An entire village with nothing but wizards?"

"Yep, the only one in Britain," said Reggie.

"Well, I'm definitely going to get my slip signed."

"Same here," the other three said simultaneously.

"Well, where to?" asked Jacke.

"Why don't we go to Ollivander's? We still need new wands after we lost ours in the battle with Arnold," said Reggie.

"No need. I have your wands right here," Tyler said tapping his wand holster under his robes. "For you," he said giving Brad the yellow band wand. "For you," giving Reggie the wand with the blue band. "And finally for you Jacke," giving him the wand with the red band on it.

The wands gave good eerie glows when Jacke, Reggie and Brad gripped them. Brad's had good yellow and black sparks. Reggie's also gave out sparks of blue and copper. Jacke's wand gave a glow of gold and green.

'I knew the wands would like them. Just like mine did. Now the seekers are "the wand heirs of Hogwarts,"' Tyler thought with pride.

"You already went?" asked Brad.

Tyler then went into debate on the matter. Should he tell them where he really got them or should he just go along with it? They already knew that he was an heir of Salazar Slytherin. Tyler didn't know how much startling information they could take if he told them he was his wand heir too. Also, that he was about to give them the wands of the other founders to replace their old ones.

"Tyler?"

"What? Sorry."

"I asked if you already went to Ollivander's. Did you?"

"Let's just say, I got a good deal on them." 'The deal being that they were somehow gotten from among the most famous wizards of all time for nothing,' he thought to himself. "Do you like them?"

Jacke was just staring at his. "Yeah, my new wand feels so comforting and...warm. I feel like it's me."

"You know...me too," said Reggie. "It's like I feel complete somehow."

"Feels nice," added Brad admiring his own wand.

"I know the feeling."

"You do?"

"Er...yeah, I got that too with my wand."

"Cool."

"Yeah, it is Jacke. Hey, guess whom I ran into a while ago," he said repocketing his wand and changing the subject.

"Who?" asked Reggie.

"Severus."

"Severus...oh, Severus Snape from our first year," said Brad.

"Yeah, the same one."

"How's he doing?" Jacke asked.

"Oh, he's going about fine."

"What's he doing?" asked Reggie.

"Oh...I forgot to ask." He wasn't going to talk about Severus' private business since he made an oath to him that he wouldn't tell anyone.

"Tyler!" a voice said.

It was his parents.

"Are you ready to go son."

"It's been an hour already?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes, we have everything on the list and got the supplies we needed. It's time to go back home."

"Okay mom." He turned to his friends. "Sorry it was so quick."

"Don't worry. We still have the train ride and the school year to do stuff together," Jacke said cheerfully.

"Yeah, I guess we do."

"Don't worry, we'll still owl each other for the last two weeks of summer," said Reggie.

"Yeah, no problem. I'm getting my own owl today so I won't have to wait for a letter from one of you guys so I could send letters," Brad said.

"Good luck on that. Goodbye."

"Bye."

"Bye Tyler."

"Until next time mate."

"Until next time," Tyler said.

Then Tyler went to the barrier to Diagon Alley outside the Leaky Cauldron so that he, his dad and mom could take the portkey back home.

**End of Chapter 2**

I'm not the weakest link: Good to hear from you again.

Kierra: It's so good to know that I have another faithful reader. Oh and about your problem with accessing my story. I tried to e-mail you back but for some reason I couldn't. Send me an email with the chapters in each book you can't get to so I could send a return with them.

Author Notes

There we go. The Seekers now have the wands of the founders, the Hogwarts Four. Though only Tyler knows the truth. The next chapter will contain the trip back to school Also, the meeting of the new defense against the dark arts teacher. Chapter 3: Third Year Begins.


	3. Third Year Begins

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

Chapter 3: Third Year Begins

Tyler woke up on the morning of August 30th to many owls in his rooms carrying packages and letters. They looked like they have been waiting for a while for him to get up.

'Great, birthday presents,' Tyler thought with glee.

He jumped out of bed and untied every owl of their letters and packages and set them all in a pile on his bed and settled himself down. Before he started opening the parcels, Chaos slithered to the side of his bed. Pandy wasn't at his owl stand but Tyler assumed that he was out hunting.

"_Tyler, Happy Birthday_!" Chaos hissed to him.

"_You remembered_?" Tyler hissed back.

"_Of course, this marks the day that we came into each other's life as well as Pandy_."

"_Oh, so you did remember what I told you_."

"_I'm not stupid Tyler, I listen to what you tell me_."

"_Then why is it so hard for you to listen when I tell you to stay out of sight or get into the trunk_?"

Chaos had conveniently coughed very hard so he couldn't answer.

Tyler went to the nearest parcel, which had surprisingly turned out to be from Morgan. Morgan was his a dark cherry red haired girl in his year who became his newest friend before the end of the term. Inside was a photo of her waving and smiling at him with a note attached.

_Happy Birthday Tyler. Regulus told me that you took pictures of all your friends last year to keep with you everywhere. Well, I decided to send you mine to keep with your collection. I can't wait to see you in at September 1st. _

_Morgan_

Tyler was speechless at Morgan's gift. It was really something for her to give him a symbol of their new friendship. He took her picture and hung it on the wall with that of his other single pictures of his friends and then went back to his present pile on his bed.

Tyler picked a package that had brown paper covering it. Inside was a container with a label on it. It said "_OceanWave Hair Gel_". He was confused by what this stuff was and began looking into the box for a clue. There was a letter from Reggie inside it.

_Tyler,_

_Happy birthday. I guess you're wondering what this is. I bet you wouldn't know what hair gel is since it's a muggle product. It's for fixing up your hair to make it look presentable or you could use it to shape your hair to make it look cooler or mature. I think you would need this since your hair wasn't too...human when we last saw each other. Enjoy._

_Reggie_

If Reggie were there then Tyler could've slapped him at the back of his head for the human comment. He liked his hair being natural but he decided that he would give this muggle gel stuff a try but later. He went on the next present, which was wrapped in silk wrapping and a little heavy. It was a potions kit complete with a mini cauldron no bigger than the owl that delivered it. There was also a leather book with a note attached. It was from Severus.

_Tyler,_

_It was great running into you in Diagon Alley a while ago. It was nice seeing actually seeing you in the flesh and finding how much you've grown than the pictures you sent. I hope you enjoy this kit for any handy potions that you need. The book is a little potion book that I wrote on potions I would recommend that you would need or have fun with. Use them well and maybe I'll see you faster than you think that is if I qualify for next year._

_Severus_

Tyler couldn't make out what that last comment meant was glad that Severus wrote. The next present he opened was from Matt. He sent him a book on curses with a simple note attach that said loads.

_Study these in case another tournament comes through so it could be you waving the trophy._

_Matt_

Back in February, Tyler and the other second years were in a dueling tournament. The Seekers had managed to make it to the semi-finals; all of them, and then it came down to Jacke and himself. Jacke had won that match but it was still close. Jacke ended up getting a trophy that would always be in display in honor of Gryffindor House.

Matt also sent a letter along with the present.

_Tyler,_

_You'll never guess what I heard from my father. You know that he works in the Department of Education with the school governors right? Well, he heard about whom Dumbledore picked to be the new Defense teacher. It turns out that the guy is an old fossil. Seriously, didn't Dumbledore learn his lesson about hiring fragile people for that job? I bet that when he sees what we're capable of doing he'll have a heart attack and get sent to the hospital wing or St. Mungo's. That or the curse on the job will get him like the rest. Well, I see you at Hogwarts, only 3 days away!_

_Matt_

Tyler didn't agree with Matt's perception on their defense teacher before they had even seen him. Though, he couldn't argue with the so-called jinx on the job...though, it was because of Tyler that the two previous defense teachers had been made to leave the school.

Tyler then went to the package with the tag saying "From Regulus". Inside the package was a birthday cake. On it, there were glazed broomsticks, snitches and the Slytherin Serpent Emblem. There was a note there also but it had been hit with some frosting probably done during the owl delivery. After he wiped it off he read it.

_Tyler, _

_Well, first I want to say Happy 13th Birthday! Also, my owl results came about more than a week ago. I wanted to wait and give you the good news when you already were happy. I got 7 OWLS. They were in DADA, Charms, Transfiguration and got one in Potions in the Practical session. For my career, I was thinking about going into a job at the Ministry. I believe that the legendary Department of Mysteries would be a good choice. I heard there are some of the biggest secrets of the government hidden there. Also, I have something to tell you but I'll leave it until school when I see you and Matt. Not Morgan though, it's a personal thing between the three of us and I don't want to say it in the letter in case it gets intercepted or something. Well, I can't wait to see you. ONLY 2 DAYS!_

_Regulus_

When Tyler finished reading the letter, he felt a little uncomfortable. The phrase "in case this letter is intercepted" is what Severus had wrote when he had been recruited in the circle of the Death Eaters. Tyler also remembered when Regulus talked about his parents and how they were all for the Death Eaters and his cousin eliminating muggleborns and his other philosophies. Tyler couldn't have both Severus and Regulus into this. They were both like big brothers to Tyler. Severus looked out for him in his first year but Regulus was still there with him and closer to his age, always had been giving him guidance, advice and helping him get through the hard times. If it hadn't been for him then he probably wouldn't have stayed friends with Jacke, Reggie and Brad and the Seekers wouldn't have formed.

Or maybe Tyler was overreacting. Regulus did write saying that it was between him and Matt. He didn't want Morgan to hear this so maybe it was just a guy thing.

'I just hope that's all what it is,' Tyler thought hopefully.

Tyler just went on to open his last two presents, which he deduced were from Brad and Jacke. He went to open Brad's first saving his bestest mate's present for last. Brad hadn't sent him a letter like the others but his present was enough in Tyler's mind. Brad sent him a bunch of muggle pictures of himself playing soccer and martial arts and doing other things. In the pile of pictures, a small note came out of them in Brad's handwriting.

You wanted to know what muggles do during the summer, well here's what I do at least.

Tyler thought the pictures were weird. They didn't move at all, the figures were so completely still. It blew his mind while in a muggle's mind; it would be a regular sight in their lives. Jacke then turned to his last present from Jacke, which was wrapped in Gryffindor colors, which Tyler couldn't help but shake his head in laughter about. Inside was a neck chain with a lion's head on it. It had it mouth opened like it was roaring and it was made from gold. Tyler took it in his hand and then went to Jacke's note.

_Hey Tyler,_

_Happy Birthday. I got you this chain so you could always carry a piece of me with you. I'm a Gryffindor so a symbol of me and my house will always be with you to remember me wherever you go. I have another just like it around my neck too. I hope you like it. Also, thanks again for the wand, it feels and looks great. I can't wait for when we go to school to use it. I still wonder how you got the wand maker to find one so...fitting._ _Also, I'm hoping that the new teacher will introduce us to more dueling. I want to have another duel against you and I'm betting a thousand galleons that you're brewing up the urge to have a rematch. I just hope you're going to be better because you could bet that I'll be. Happy Birthday Tyler Slytherin the Slytherin Seeker._

_Jacke_

Tyler had a deep smile at the end of this letter. He never had any trouble of knowing why Jacke was his greatest friend. It was because he was so fun and loved to challenge him. They were each other's greatest rivals and bestest friends at the same time. Tyler looked at the chain that Jacke sent him. He unhooked the clasp but didn't put it on...yet. He went to his arm and took off the bracelet with the big silver snake key to the "Deep Level" off. He took the key from it and put it on the chain so the snake and the lion were together and then put it on. It seemed weird at first wearing something so Gryffindor with something Slytherin but Tyler liked it since he knew what it meant. Tyler then got an idea. He went to the desk near his bed and went into the top drawer to take out the silver snake figure that his grandparents gave him the Christmas of his first year. He then took a quill and some parchment.

_Jacke,_

_Thanks so much for the present. I...it really means a lot to me. You said that you had a lion chain just like the one you sent me well here's something for that. It's a snake charm to put on your chain with it. I put a similar one like it on the chain together with the lion. This way, while I have a piece of Gryffindor and you, you'll have a piece of Slytherin and me along with you. You could have this to remind you of our friendship no matter where you are. Also, I am looking forward to a rematch with you. I have two loses to make up for. Don't think you'll be ahead of me yet. Lastly, thanks for using my last name there, Jacke Walker the Gryffindor Seeker. _

_Tyler_

Tyler then took the letter and sent it off with the Walker's family owl and then sent off the rest so they could return to their homes. Tyler's stomach grumbled so he took Chaos in his arms and then went down to the dining room to get something to eat. When he got to the dining room he saw a plate with eggs, bacon, and toast and ice tea ready there with a card that had his name on it. The card said to look to the right and there he saw his parents with Pandy and Yenze the House elf and they yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Tyler ran and gave each of them a hug, except Yenze and Pandy; he gave them good rubs on the head, which they both liked. Tyler noticed that his grandparents weren't there.

"Dad, Mom, where are Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Oh they couldn't make it today Tyler but they sent you this letter and package that they delivered with Pandemona," his mother said.

"Oh, well that's too bad. I was really hoping to see them again."

"Don't worry, you will," his dad said comforting Tyler.

The package they sent had a new winter blue cloak and a letter saying that they were sorry that they couldn't make it since they were busy at the moment.

His parents gave Tyler a new smaller wizard camera and his signed permission slip for going into Hogsmeade.

Jacke was at his house working on a model of a lion. He had started to get into making models during the long and boring summer and he was getting quite good. Whenever he was finished then he would ask his mom or dad to charm them so they could move. He was starting to paint it when his family owl flew into his room.

"Hey, what you got there?"

He found a silver snake figure and saw that it was from Tyler. He took the letter and began reading it. It was from Tyler. He read about how Tyler loved his present and how he took a silver snake like this one and placed it with the lion charm. Jacke took off his chain and unhooked the clasp. He placed the silver snake on the chain and put it right next to his lion charm. It felt weird to see these two things together but smiled on what it represented-his friendship with Tyler. He also laughed at the ending of the letter about the future rematch they would have and how he used Tyler's real last name.

September 1st had arrived and Tyler was getting everything ready. He put on his school robes and took his trunk and Pandy's cage downstairs to meet with his father and use a portkey to get to Platform 9 and ¾.

His dad had the usual candlestick ready and as usual, Chaos was asking to not be put into the trunk. Tyler used the usual trick to charm him a pink bow and he reluctantly slithered into the trunk. But Tyler promised him that he could come out when he was in the compartment with his fellow seekers.

"Why would it be okay to let Chaos out with...what again?"

Oops, he goofed. He made the promise to Chaos right in front of his father.

"Oh, Chaos had accidentally come out of the trunk to early one time and my friends Jacke, Reggie and Brad saw him. Don't worry; they think he's just a normal pet. And the Seekers are what we call ourselves, that's it."

His father gave him a piercing look and Tyler looked down to close his trunk.

"All right son, get ready and touch the portkey so we could go." They put their hands on the portkey and waited. "Okay, 3,2,1."

They felt the familiar tug in one direction and found themselves on the familiar setting of Platform 9 and ¾. The scarlet train with the words Hogwarts Express, gleamed on the platform and had people already inside getting ready to go back to Hogwarts. Tyler started to walk over to it but his dad stopped him.

"Tyler, be careful in Hogsmeade. If anything happens then use the floo powder that I gave you and let me know if anything happens."

"Yes dad I know. It's been three years already, don't you think I can handle myself?"

"You're right. It's just that I worry about you, it's my job to do that you know."

"Yes dad...I know. Don't worry. I give you my Slytherin oath that I'll be okay."

"Alright, go on and have a good term."

"Bye dad."

Tyler took his trunk and went for the last compartment in the train as always. He was the first one there so he put his trunk away. He opened it before he put it away and took Chaos out and let him wrap around his lap and snooze in the fresh air.

"Lazy snake," Tyler said shaking his at the sight of his snoozing snake.

He didn't have to sit in silence long because soon a familiar looking redhead stepped into the compartment wearing Gryffindor robes.

"Hey Tyler!"

"Jacke!"

Tyler set Chaos down and went to hug his friend.

"Tyler,"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the pendant."

Jacke took out the chain and Tyler saw the snake pendant he sent with a familiar looking gold lion like Jacke had sent him.

"You know, that's a traditional silver snake that a Slytherin family member gets when they start their first school year. I wanted you to have it."

"Wow...I'll take good care of it for you.

"No problem, it's yours. Thanks for the chain," Tyler said back taking his out.

Jacke saw the lion with a snake like his but saw that the bottom of the snake looked a little like a key design.

"Tyler, is that a key?"

"Oh...well yeah it is. Tell you what, when Reggie and Brad get here then I'll explain it to you guys."

"Why not just explain it to me. It couldn't be that big could it?"

"...Okay. You remember how I told you about how I got those transformation things at home?" Jacke nodded so Tyler continued. "Well, the chamber where the books were is protected with a magical door that is hard to crack open without one of these keys. Every Slytherin family member gets one when they at the age of eleven. I got mine on the Christmas of our first year right before I got the book on becoming elementals. But I did sneak into there without my parents' permission so I can't let them know anything about that. That's all there is to it."

"Oh, my lips are jinxed and sealed," Jacke said taking his wand and tracing his mouth.

"Good, they better be or I might have to jinx them."

"You could try," Jacke said with humor and challenge. "Is that Chaos," he said pointing to the sleeping green snake.

"Yeah, he hates being cooped up in my trunk. Complains that it gets stuffy. So, I agreed that he could be in the fresh air on the ride to school, if you don't mind that is."

"No...I think he seems quite nice. Doesn't look threatening when he's sleeping."

"Yeah I know, he likes just being lazy and snoozing about."

Reggie and Brad came in later and Tyler and Jacke helped put away their trunks after they hugged them hello. They sat down while the train had taken off and headed for Hogwarts. Soon the pushcart woman came and they ordered some food and juice to have and Reggie began the topic of Hogsmeade.

"Seriously, an all wizard village. I can't wait to visit all the shops there. Also, the legendary Shrieking Shack said to have the roughest ghosts around. The Grey Lady told me that none of the ghosts in Hogwarts dare to go there."

"I want to get into Honeydukes. I've always wanted to try Fizzing Whizbees," Jacke said with a look of hunger.

"They taste good," Tyler said to Jacke's comment.

"How do you know that?"

"Oh, Regulus always went and got things for Matt and I whenever he went to Hogsmeade but we always had to pay for the stuff we wanted."

"Well, I just want to see how it looks. I've never seen an entire wizard village before. All I've seen is Diagon Alley and that's just a wizard shopping center," Brad said excited.

"Don't worry. It'll be great."

"So...do you have any hopes for this year's defense teacher," Brad said looking cautiously at Tyler since he knew full well their encounter with their previous one.

"As long as he wasn't an ex-league member who captured a family member and tries to pass me off as a hunting trophy then I'm okay," Tyler joked.

"Same here," the other 3 seekers said simultaneously.

"Well, I did hear something from Matt. He heard that the defense teacher is an old guy but that's all. Guess that's not much to go on."

"Well, if he's a good teacher or not, we'll already be working on something right?"

"Er...wrong," said Tyler bringing a disappointed frown to Jacke's face. "I didn't find anything big from home this time. Even if I did," he said quickly, "where are we going to train? We lost our training cave remember?"

"Oh right," Jacke said.

"So, should we find a new place?" Brad asked.

"Well, we wouldn't know where to start. Well, maybe it's an omen. We should try to have a normal year."

"Normal?" Jacke, Tyler and Brad asked like Reggie was crazy.

"Reggie, we're the Seekers. We look for new challenges and overcome them together," Jacke said.

"Yeah, and also, we are from different houses. It's not like we can have a normal year together even if we tried."

"Hey guys, why don't we have another gimmick for our group?" asked Brad.

"What's a gimmick?" asked Jacke and Tyler.

"Muggle thing," said Reggie. Reggie and Brad had more knowledge on muggle things than they did, though Brad had a lot more than Reggie did.

"It's a creative thing that we use to make our group more unique. Why don't we have our own slogan?"

"Why do I feel you put a lot of thought into this?" Jacke said looking at Brad strangely.

"Well...I kind of did. I thought up a saying that I think would fit our group and our name perfectly."

"What?!" the three of his friends asked.

"Well here it is. "The Seekers: We always find a way," Do you guys like it?"

Jacke, Reggie and Tyler thought for a moment on the slogan and gave their honest opinions.

"I think it's perfect," Reggie said.

"I like it," said Tyler.

"Sounds cool," said Jacke.

"Okay then, that'll be our saying and slogan."

"I'm actually looking forward to going back and studying," Jacke said suddenly.

"Oh no, is it cold here?"

"No, why Tyler?" Reggie said seriously.

"Because I think the world is going to freeze over now. I swear I just heard Jacke said that he was actually looking forward to studying."

"Well, it has been a long and boring summer since everything's been cancelled or postponed. Not blaming you of course mate."

"Yeah...I know. I just wish the madness could stop already. If my family runs into him then maybe we could convince him otherwise."

"But I thought you said that Voldemort has no idea that he even has living relatives?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah, but still, there must be something."

"Don't bother Tyler," Jacke said patting his back. "There's no guarantee that he'll even listen to you. He might just use you to get your family powers to get stronger."

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

"Ah, enough about Voldemort we should get ourselves stretched and ready. I could see the station lights."

The train pulled up in Hogsmeade Station. The Seekers got out and saw the familiar giant figure of the groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid leading the first years off towards the boats. They all headed for the carriages, which Tyler saw weren't horseless anymore.

There were beasts that looked like reptilian breeds of horses with scales and bat like wings. They were a dark color and had thick looking claws on their feet. Tyler looked over to Brad, Reggie and Jacke. Jacke and Brad looked as surprised as he did but Reggie didn't look intrigued at all.

"What's wrong guys?" Reggie asked.

"Those...things," Brad said pointing to the creatures. "What are they?"

Reggie looked over to where they were pointing and then looked back at them. "You all can see them?" They nodded. "You better come inside."

When they stepped into the carriage, Reggie began speaking.

"Those things you guys saw are the threshals that had been pulling the carriages."

"Those are threshals?" Tyler said unbelievably.

"Yeah."

"But...why can we see them now?" Jacke asked.

"Don't you remember what we learned about them from our first year? When we had to get its scale for the element potion."

Then Tyler remembered. Reggie had gotten the scale for the potion since he was the only one who was able to see them. He said that only someone who had seen death was able to see them.

"But we haven't seen anyone..." Tyler stopped short. They all had seen someone die. They saw when Professor Arnold, their former defense teacher, was trampled by rocks and died instantly. "Professor Arnold...we saw him die, remember?"

"Yeah, so that's why we can see them now." Brad said.

"Wow, looking at them I would rather we didn't."

"Oh don't worry you guys. You'll get used to them, trust me."

They started to forget the threshals when they saw the tall castle of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where their third year was about to begin.

**End of Chapter 3**

Whisperkey: I saw you on my list of people who have me on Author Alert and I would like to say that I'm touched that I have another reader.

Author Notes

Well, that's it for now. I hoped you all liked that chapter. The Seekers are about to begin their third year. The next chapter, you can expect the new teacher, the sorting, and Tyler discovering something extraordinary that's related to his family.

Review!


	4. Slytherin's Map

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

Chapter 4: Slytherin's Map

When all the students got to the front of the castle, they left the carriages and made their way to the Great Hall. They passed by the doors and just in time too because it had started to pour rain.

"Good thing we all got in so quickly. I would not fancy to be like a drenched rag," Tyler said thankfully.

"Tyler, didn't you try the hair gel I sent?"

"Well, I didn't know how to use it Reggie. You didn't give instructions."

"It's very simple. Just put some in your hands and use it to shape your hair so it will be the way you want."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Wow, I thought it was completely complicated."

"Come on Tyler," Brad said holding back a laugh. "You've got to give muggles more credit than that."

"Maybe I should," Tyler said to himself more to them.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, the four seekers separated to their respective house tables. Tyler picked a random seat away from anyone at the moment and was waiting for his slytherin buds. He waited for about a minute when Matt and Morgan came through the doors. They both were wet but only a little. They went over and sat near Tyler with Matt going across him and Morgan sitting at his left.

"Tyler, hey."

"Great to see you Tyler. We missed you."

"Matt, Morgan, It's great to see you two in the flesh again."

Matt went to shake his hand while Morgan went and hugged Tyler...hard. Tyler hugged her back but realized that she was cutting off his air.

"Morgan...I'm glad you're happy to see me...but let me breathe."

"Oh sorry," she said turning a light shade of red.

"Oh, is Morgan blushing?" Matt said in a teasing child's voice.

"Shut up Carroway," she spited back.

"Eh, touched a soft spot didn't I?"

"Where's Regulus?" Tyler asked hoping to stop a duel from breaking out with a change to a neutral topic.

"Oh, he came over with his fellow 6th years. He didn't seem too happy though. I thought that he would be great especially since he got such good OWL results."

"Yeah, he owled me on my birthday, said that he had something to tell us Matt."

"Yeah, I got a letter saying that too."

"Speaking of your birthday Tyler...did you like my gift?" Morgan was tense but only Tyler could tell because he was right next to her.

"Oh...yeah. Thanks for the picture Morgan, I hung it up on my wall with my other pictures."

"I'm glad you liked it. As I said, we're friends now and you keep pictures of your friends so I sent you the best one that I could get of myself for you."

"That was real nice of you."

"Sent him a picture of you did you? And he hung on the wall for you. Awe."

"Not again Matt," Tyler pleaded shutting him up before he could make Morgan mad and embarrassed again.

"Not again Matt what?" asked a new voice which Tyler recognized as his 16 year old friend Regulus.

"Never mind that Regulus. So I see you look...great."

Tyler didn't know what else to say. Regulus had grown a few inches taller from the last time he'd seen him. He seemed more mature looking and his hair was nicely groomed with the air of elegance that it did with rich people. But Regulus didn't have a cheery look in his eyes, he seemed...distracted by something.

"Yeah," Regulus said with annoyance. "I feel as good as I look."

"What's wrong with you?" asked Matt.

"Hello, Morgan is here. I'm not going to discuss this when she is here. It's private between us."

Tyler felt his stomach go numb. If this was about the Death Eaters then Tyler did not know if he could take this again.

Morgan spoke up. "Come on, what can't you say that I can't hear?"

"It's a topic between men. Having a girl around will only make it worse and you'll just laugh at me anyway."

"I won't laugh. Come on Regulus. Don't you trust me?" Morgan gave Regulus pleading eyes and pouted her bottom lip, which made Regulus tense and then give off a breath in surrender.

"Oh alright. Just don't laugh, or decide to spread it all over the girls' dormitory or I'll hex your lips into oblivion with a spell that you won't hope to counteract."

"Promise."

Tyler felt a little happier all of a sudden. If Regulus did have something related to the Death Eaters that he wanted to share then he wouldn't have agreed to let Morgan listen in especially since he thought that she would laugh at him. He did say that it was a guy thing. Tyler almost laughed himself at how he jumped to conclusions and worried over nothing.

The hall doors opened and in walked Hagrid. He looked a little soaked at the top but that was to be expected when it was raining hard outside. He walked over and sat down at his usual spot on the staff table. Tyler saw that where Hagrid was, sat a young man probably in his late 30's there. He had curly brown hair, and had his face with a blank expression. Professor McGonagall, the transfiguration teacher and head of Gryffindor House, came in followed by the new herd of first years. They all were looking around the room with wonder and Tyler remembered that he had done similar things when he had walked into Hogwarts for the first time.

Professor McGonagall led them to the front of the room and asked them to make a group while she went to put a stool in front of them with the sorting hat. Tyler remembered how the sorting hat sorted people by what their character and their needs. He also recalled that it sang a different song every year about the houses and how important it was to be united. The first song that was song had actually talked about Tyler in a sense. It said that he was to be the hope of the world and bring unity and joy, as well as erase instant doubt. He didn't fully get what that meant but he didn't care. He just wanted to forget the song and the family prophecy and be himself.

The hat opened up a rip and began to sing in a much better but still off-key voice than before.

"_It has been said again and over,_

_that I'm a sorting hat._

_Godric Gryffindor took me off his head,_

_and charmed me to do just that._

_Godric Gryffindor loved those of bravery,_

_Rowena Ravenclaw loved the students of learning call,_

_Salazar Slytherin loved ones of trickery,_

_Helga Hufflepuff absolutely loved them all._

_I've been sorting for about a thousand years,_

_placing youngsters where they belong._

_New students I will sort you,_

_but I have more in my song._

_Outside our walls lurks a dark menace,_

_that is out for power and wrong._

_Unless you unite with ourselves,_

_then Hogwarts will not last long._

_You let yourselves fight within the school,_

_thinking everyone outside your house is sore._

_Remember, we are like a square,_

_which must have four._

_Even though you are in a house,_

_you must discover everyone is unique._

_Please learn of this lesson well,_

_especially from the four that seek._

_I have given you my deepest wish,_

_and I will say no more._

_It's time to talk about the houses,_

_starting with Gryffindor._

_Home of the ones with courage,_

_you'll are the image of a knight._

_These fellows don't run from fear,_

_instead laugh in the face of fright._

_Meet the people in Slytherin,_

_they are the clever lot._

_Priding themselves on their trickiness,_

_huge bag of confidence they've got._

_Ravenclaw has the intellectual sort,_

_they brace everything in logic._

_Knowledge is their way of life,_

_it increases like magic._

_Loyals go in Hufflepuff,_

_where they value fair play._

_If you are loving and work hard,_

_then welcomed there you may._

_All four of these houses are special,_

_but there is still something to tell._

_You could only be placed in one,_

_so be advised, choose well._

_Don't worry for I'll point the way,_

_question me if you may._

_Choose the place where you'll stay,_

_But remember that house outsiders are still okay._

_Now Youngsters, put me on,_

_Let The Sorting Begin!!"_

The school broke into clapping at the end of the sorting hat's song. However, there were four people in the mass of students that weren't noticed for their lack of claps. Neither of the seekers were clapping for they were shocked at what the sorting hat had said. The sorting hat had vaguely mentioned the name of their group, The Seekers, in it's song with the phrase "the four that seek" meaning them. All four of them had similar thoughts on their minds. Why would the sorting hat talk about them and more importantly, how did it know about them? Could Professor Dumbledore possibly know about them or did the sorting hat just come on to their secret alone?

Professor McGonagall began the roll call for the sorting.

"When your name is called, please come forward for the sorting hat to place you into your houses." She went to the scroll in her hand and read the first name. "Bruce Baker!"

A steady boy went to the stool and put the hat on. "_Slytherin_!" There was clapping from the student body but most of it from the slytherin table.

"Janice Brinker!" continued McGonagall.

"_Ravenclaw_!"

"Gabriella Clowers!"

"_Hufflepuff_!"

"Jack Cromwell!"

"_Gryffindor_!"

"Marsha Dermin!"

"_Hufflepuff_!"

Eventually, Tyler lost interest in the paying full attention and was wishing that the sorting could end so that Regulus could say on his mind.

"Regulus, when are you going to tell us what you have to tell us?" he asked quietly as Amy Lewis was sorted into Gryffindor.

"Right after the sorting Tyler. It'll get noisy enough so no one else would hear. Look, we got another slytherin," he said indicating a boy named Skye McKnight.

"Yeah, because you're keeping us in suspense," said Matt.

"Alden Rushmore"

"_Hufflepuff_!"

"Yeah, and I'm want to know what you have to say that makes you so sure that a girl will laugh at you," Morgan turning her head from the sorting to Regulus.

"Oxford Switzer!"

"_Gryffindor_!"

The sorting continued on for a few more minutes until the last person, Sora Vican, was sorted into Gryffindor. When she sat down, the headmaster Professor Dumbledore stood up to give the usual announcements. They all listened to staying away from the Forbidden Forest, the list of forbidden items on Filch's office door, the rule against using magic in the corridor between classes, how the school should be a place to relax during the dark times and so on. Tyler just wanted the speeches to end so that the feast could begin.

"Lastly, I would like introduce our new defense against the dark arts teacher. Sadly, Professor Kenrick Arnold has not been found but to fill in the post is Mr. Timothy Squall." He pointed over to the man that Tyler noticed earlier and saw that he had a cheery smile on now and bowed his head at the introduction Dumbledore gave him. "Now," rebegan Dumbledore. "Let us begin the welcome feast and rekindle ourselves."

Food appeared on the tables and everyone started to grab food immediately. After about a minute of eating, Regulus called for Matt, Morgan and Tyler's attention.

"All right, what I'm about to tell you is a little embarrassing so no laughing, especially from you," he said pointing his eyes at Morgan.

"Yeah, yeah, what is it now?"

"Well...I heard from my parents that they've arranged something for me."

"What?" Tyler asked. He was already annoyed that Regulus had something that was driving him crazy and seemed to drive himself crazy too from the look on his face.

"Well...you see...they've...arranged for me to marry a girl of their choosing."

"What?" said Matt and Tyler with opened mouths and shocked eyes. Morgan just had a blank face at the news.

"Yeah, they've picked a girl to be my wife and I haven't even met her or even seen her picture."

"Do you at least know her name?"

"No Matt, they didn't even tell me that. They just said that she has their blessing and her parents have my blessing and that's all there is to it. They said that we are to wed after I leave Hogwarts and closed the matter with Tojours Pur."

"Tojours Pur?" said Morgan clearly as confused as Tyler was feeling.

"Yeah, that's the saying of the Black family. It means "remain pure"."

"Your parents are downright nuts Regulus," Tyler said speaking his mind. "You have a choice on who you want to date let alone marry."

"Yeah, makes me think my brother might have been smarter than I thought."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far," Tyler said countering Regulus' latest statement on Sirius Black. "But still, isn't there someway out?"

"Not that I know of."

Then Morgan began chuckling.

"See? This is why I didn't want to say anything in front of her?"

"What are you talking about?" Morgan asked innocently.

"You're laughing. I knew that a girl wouldn't understand."

"Understand? It sounds kind of sweet, like a fairy tale."

"Morgan, you just don't get it from a guy's point of view," Tyler said helping Regulus. "You girls think stuff like that is romantic."

"Yeah, to be told of a girl that you'll have to marry without choice is downright humiliating," joined in Matt. "You don't know if you're marrying a hag, bore, or troll for that matter. And you call that romantic?"

"Well...I never thought of it that way. And I wasn't laughing at him. I was laughing at how you're reacting to this news Black. Relax. I think I already found a way to get you out of it."

"Don't bother Stellers," Regulus said clearly annoyed at Morgan. "I thought and thought of how to get out of this and the only way that I can think of is if I die, my soon to be fiancé dies, or my parents die because other than that I'm stuck."

"Alright fine, be that way," Morgan snapped back.

Neither one of them said or looked at the other for the entire meal and instead talked to either Matt or himself being careful to not be forced to speak to each other.

The end of the feast arrived and soon everyone started to get up from his or her spot and walk out of the Great Hall. Tyler was up and heading out when a foot stepped on one of his own. He turned and saw that he had bumped into 3 younger slytherin boys. Two of them, he recognized from the sorting.

"Oh sorry," one of the new little ones said.

"It's okay. Tyler Solemn," he said moving his hand to shake hello.

They all shook his hands and the two 1st years introduced themselves first.

"Lutz Napier." He seemed excited.

"Bruce Baker." He was a little shaken but okay, probably since he thought Tyler was going to scream at him since he was the one who stepped on him.

"Great, Welcome to Slytherin House. And you?" he said to the last one. "I've seen you but I don't quite remember your name."

"Oh, hardly anyone does. Samuel Baddock, second year."

"Nice to meet you. Well, I guess you better be off."

They left the Great Hall and Tyler left the room too. He kept going but didn't head straight for the dungeons. He went into an unused classroom close to them and saw his fellow seekers there.

"We've got a problem," Reggie said immediately.

"I figured that," Tyler said.

"Told you he would," Jacke said with triumph to Reggie.

"Okay okay, anyway, if the sorting hat knows about our group then you could bet Dumbledore might know."

"That I'm not too sure on."

"Why?" said Brad.

"Well...I guess it won't matter since you already know about me but when we got sorted two years ago, the sorting hat saw right through me and knew who I really was."

"It knew?"

"Yeah Brad, I pleaded for him or it or whatever to not say anything and it gave me it's word that it wouldn't say anything. It told me that it's not it's place to reveal anything personal about any student. I think it might be connected or something to the school."

"So...you're saying our group's existence is safe?" asked Reggie.

"Yeah, I'm confident it is so there's no need to worry."

"Good," said Jacke relieved. "Reggie here was going mad with fright until you got here worrying about the headmaster knowing that we had something to do with Arnold last year."

"Hey, if he did then we could've been facing expulsion from Hogwarts."

"But we're not are we?"

"Alright Jacke, I think he gets the point," Brad jumped in. "Let's just leave it at that and leave. I don't know about you guys but I'm tired and I could use a good sleep. Let's go Reggie."

"Yeah, I'm with you. We may not have classes until the day after tomorrow but we still get our schedules for Monday. Goodnight Tyler, Jacke."

"Night," they both said to their friends who walked out leaving them alone.

"I caught a little something going on with Regulus at your table. He seemed worried, not at all like his calm self."

"Yeah, well he had a stressful summer thanks to his parents. He told us what's wrong and it's nothing for you worry about. There's little that can be done to fix it and he's been stressed out by it."

"What?"

"It's a little private. It's not my business, it's his."

"Okay, I can respect that. I was just curious and a little worried about him."

"You were?"

"Yeah, don't act surprised Tyler. Regulus is a friend in my mind. You met him the same time I did remember?"

"Oh right."

"Well, I better head over to Gryffindor Tower. I got to catch a prefect because I don't know the password, bye."

He ran out heading to his common room but Tyler took his time to his. Regulus gave him the password to the common room that he was told by the prefect in his year. He'd been hanging a lot with them lately.

He got to the disappearing wall and said, "Amorite." It disappeared to the side and revealed the doorway into the Slytherin common room.

He headed for the 3rd year dorms and saw his other dorm mates Alex Nott, younger brother of the 6th year prefect Theodore Nott, and Zack Moore unpacking. Matt was straightening his bed out so Tyler didn't disturb him. He headed for his trunk and started to put his stuff away. When the others weren't looking, he took Chaos and put him under his bed to access an entrance into the miniature tunnel network and one happened to be under his bed. Tyler had a lot to unload and soon became the only one still awake unpacking. Tyler saw one more thing in his trunk to pack and pulled the last of his robes out and saw a box fall out. He recognized it as the one he took out from the "Deep Level" which had the wands in it. He opened it to find the parchment he also took out but he hadn't had time to look at it. He closed his bed hangings and lit his wand. He unfolded the parchment and saw on the top in bold letters said "Slytherin's Map"

It seemed to be of the second floor right here at Hogwarts. But there was something wrong of what it told, for it told of an office where he knew was a classroom. That room was labeled "My office."

'Wait a gnome picking minute,' Tyler thought. 'This...this has got to be a map written by my ancestor, Salazar Slytherin.'

Tyler examined the map and saw that there seemed to be an indicating X on a point at the second floor. Tyler recognized it as a bathroom since he'd passed it, he didn't know how many times, ever since he first started school. There was also a list of instructions to do when you were at that spot.

'Hmm, these instructions, they're written in parselform. Let's see, go to the entrance, then say Open and climb down the pipe to private chamber. Hmm...a chamber? What chamber could that be? Maybe I should investigate.'

Tyler let out a yawn after he had made up his mind and decided to hold off any planning or adventure for later. It had been a long day and he just wanted to sleep...for now anyway.

**End of Chapter 4**

Nightlit: Great to see you've found my third story. I do have one question about something you said, "What on earth is Mary-Sue anyway? I've always heard that but never understood what that meant. Anyway, to your other concern, no, the main characters aren't any more powerful with the wands. Jacke, Reggie, Brad, and Tyler's powers didn't increase when they got the founders' wands. They are like normal wands to them. The only difference is how they feel which will be important later but I don't want to spoil anything.

Tigercub15: So you do like the new story.

Author Notes:

Bad luck for Regulus huh? I got the idea for an arranged marriage from what Sirius told Harry in OOTP. He said that being a Black practically made you royalty. And royals had arranged marriages. Do you think that was a clever move? Oh well. Tyler found a map of Salazar Slytherin's. I'm thinking that you all shouldn't have to guess where the marker on the map leads to. But for those who are hopeless, it leads to the Chamber of Secrets. Next chapter: Tyler, along with Chaos, goes down to that chamber and find many wonders including the "monster of slytherin."


	5. Chamber of Slytherin

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(----)

Chapter 5: The Chamber of Slytherin 

The prospect of this new chamber on the map made Tyler get up having an abundant amount of energy. He went and got dressed in lightning speed. He was about to head out when he saw the gel that Reggie gave him for hair. He decided to try it and then applied some to his hands and shaped his hair just like Reggie told him. He went to the mirror and after he finished, he thought he looked good. He had his hair up in a series of fluffy spikes that made him look cooler than he had ever looked before.

He went to the common room with high spirits and ran right into Morgan in his rush.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you know when there are people in front of you, you don't go into them but around them?" She looked up and saw that it was Tyler. "Tyler?"

"Sorry Morgan, it's just that I feel very happy now."

"Happy?...What in the world made you feel that? Last night at dinner, you seemed distracted and lost after the sorting, even before Regulus said what was going on with him."

"Wow Morgan, I didn't know you were that observant?"

"What do you mean Tyler?"

"I mean that you really paid attention to me in order to get how I felt. Why were you?"

"Don't change the subject," she said a little too fast and started to get a little pink. "You aren't telling me why your mood just changed."

"Oh, I just had a very good sleep. That's all there is to it."

"Tyler, what did you do to your hair?"

"Oh, I put on something that my friend Reggie gave me. What, is it bad?"

"No...you look great."

"Listen, you want to join me to breakfast?"

"Yeah, definitely."

"Wow, you must be hungry."

Strangely, to Tyler anyway, Morgan didn't say anything else after he said that. She also was avoiding eye contact with him. It was like she would look at him when she thought he wasn't looking but turn when he caught on. Tyler just shrugged it off as nothing to worry about.

Tyler and Morgan found a good secluded part of the slytherin table to sit down in. Tyler saw that Jacke was already eating over at the Gryffindor table with a few of his fellow Gryffindors but wasn't joining in conversation; he was just sitting there. He caught Jacke's eye and Jacke gave him a nod and smiled over at him, which Tyler gladly returned.

"Jacke Walker, he's your friend right?"

Tyler saw that Morgan was looking in the direction that Tyler was turned to before toward where Jacke was sitting.

"Yeah...he is...Actually, he's my best friend."

"Your best friend? I always thought that Matt was your best friend."

"Matt is my friend alright, it's just that, with Jacke, it's...different...I can't really explain it to you."

"Try me."

Tyler turned to her with a meaningful gaze. She slightly backed away from its intensity. "You really wanna know?" She nodded slowly and the look in her eyes was enough for Tyler. "Well, Jacke just happens to be the very first friend that I've actually made."

"He is?"

"Yeah," he said smiling at the memory. "We met on the train ride over here during our first year. We instantly became friends before the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station. That's also the time where we met up with Brad and Reggie and all four of us hit it off instantly. It did get hard when we all were split into different houses but we maintained it so far. Ever since that day, we've always been close, especially me and Jacke. Reggie and Brad often say that we could pass off as identical twins that look completely different."

Morgan laughed at that last bit and then looked over at Jacke. She stared at him with wonder and curiosity. "He doesn't seem to be the same way as you."

"No, when you know him as well as I do then you realize that we aren't completely alike. We may have similar likes and dislikes but we're completely different people."

"Yeah, I do remember how he was when I dueled him at the tournament last year. He doesn't have your calm attitude under pressure and he seemed to take more risks than what I've seen you do. He also was a little playful in our duel and he seemed distracted unlike you were."

"Wow," Tyler said interrupting Morgan. "You really got a lot to say on Jacke, don't you? If you want I could personally give you a good word," he said as he nudged her with his shoulder.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Morgan said turning red from anger and humiliation and slapping his arm.

"All right, I'll stop. So what about you? You know a lot about me but I don't really know all that much about you," Tyler said a little embarrassed at the thought of not knowing too much of one of his friends.

"Oh, well, I live with my father close to Ottery St. Paul. My mother died about the time I was 9."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

"Thanks, and it's okay. I'm really over it by now. She got really sick and potions weren't helping much. My dad tries to put a strong face for both of us but I can tell he gets a little sad over it sometimes when he thinks I'm not around. He always tells me "Be strong and you won't ever overpowered", which I do for him and he does for me."

"Wow, you always did strike me as strong," he said honestly.

"Thanks Tyler. That means a lot."

They both stared at each other for a while before Morgan turned away suddenly. Tyler opened his eyes in surprise at her sudden move but dismissed it with another question.

"Morgan, I've always wondered. Why did start hanging out with me and Matt?"

"Oh...you see, I never really had any friends."

"What? When I first met you, you were with the other girls in your dormitory. Aren't you friends with them?"

"No, I wasn't really. I just hung out with them because there was no one else. In case you haven't noticed because of your out of house pals, we slytherins aren't too well liked with the other houses."

"I wonder why?" he asked with sarcasm.

"Hey, I never was a git to anyone outside slytherin," she said and Tyler turned to her. He gave her a piercing gaze similar to the one his father gave due to his slipup about his friends and Chaos until "Okay I was a little, but only if they were annoying first."

"Don't worry, I have my own little experiences with some non-slytherin people. So anyway, why did you start hanging out with me?"

"Oh..." she said turning to her food. "I really took notice of you when you dueled against Jacke Walker last year. All of the other girls and some of the other boys in our year and older said that you were a house traitor especially since you were seen hanging out with a Gryffindor and that you weren't even worth talking to. But when I say you dueling very hard against Walker, the Gryffindor that you were such good friends with, I saw that there was more of you than meets the eye. You looked like a really nice guy so I decided to give you a chance and I must say that I loved...er...liked my choice."

"Well I'm honored."

"Yeah...and Matt and Regulus were with you so I gave them a shot too and found that there great, Matt can be a pain but he's okay."

"Hey, what are you guys just talking about?" called Matt's voice

'Speak of the devil,' thought Tyler. "Oh we're just talking about the new classes that we signed up for last year to take this year."

"Oh, by the way, which did you sign up for? I decided to take Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures."

"Well, I chose to have Care of Magical Creatures only," Morgan said.

"As for me, I chose Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures."

"Well, it seems that we'll be in Care of Magical Creatures together at least," Matt unnecessarily said. "Oh here comes Reckler with our timetables."

Their head of house and potion master, Professor Reckler, was passing out slips of paper out to the slytherin students and handed the three third year slytherins theirs.

"Woo, not a bad Monday," Tyler pointed out. "We have Herbology first, then Double Charms, lunch and finally Care of Magical Creatures tomorrow."

"Look, we won't have defense classes until Tuesday. We have to wait an extra day to find out what Professor Squall's classes are like."

"Yeah, and he doesn't seem like a very old fossil does he?"

"Okay, okay, I heard wrong, don't hang it over my head Tyler."

"Sure I won't...unless you need to be reminded of it," Tyler said earning a glare from Matt. "Well, it looks like the rest of our week is okay. This year's schedule seems great."

"It'll be great now but soon it's going to be looking like torture. Especially when it comes to charms, I'm not too good at that," Morgan said drowning her worries over pumpkin juice.

"Cheer up Morgan, it'll be okay. Regulus usually helps us out if the work is too hard and I'm sure he would help you with your charm work too so stop your blubbering," Matt said flatly.

"Morgan, he's right, except for the blubbering. I'm pretty okay with Charms especially when you have a friend with a knack for charms. My friend Jacke helps me out and I'm sure I can help you out too. Okay?"

"Er...okay why not?"

"Because, you might not get any better," Matt said sarcastically making Morgan hit him over the head and causing him to spit out his latest intake of water.

"Hi guys," a new voice said.

"Hey Regulus."

"Good morning."

"Have a seat."

"Well, I see you all got your timetables. I have to see Reckler later today. All the sixth years do. We have to say which classes we're dropping and which we are going to continue in NEWT level."

"You're on your way to get the career you want," Tyler said proudly to him.

"Yeah, just imagine, all the wonders of the Department of Mysteries open to me. I can't wait."

"You'd better wait Regulus. We'll be down one friend if you leave," Matt said continuing with finishing his breakfast. "Although, ministry secrets do sound good. Any chance of letting me on it?"

"I'll see," he said chuckling.

When the three slytherin third years got up and left the great hall, Tyler hung back and broke away from them.

"Tyler? What's wrong?" Matt asked.

"You're not going to hang with us?"

"No, I have something I want to work on."

"Work on? Classes don't begin until tomorrow."

"Yeah, I know Matt but I already had something planned...with my other friends," he said thinking fast.

"Oh them, well okay, just don't be gone too long. You promised me a wizard chess match today."

"Oh I won't forget. Until then, why don't you practice play against Morgan."

"Like I NEED practice," he said smugly.

"Hey!" Morgan shouted in her defense.

Tyler walked off and headed over to the second floor corridor that was on the map he found. He was nearly there when he ran into Reggie who had come from the direction of Professor Flitwick's office.

"Oh, sorry Reggie, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"It's alright. Where are you going?"

"Oh, just out for a little walk for today. Where did you come from?"

"Me? I came from Professor Flitwick's office. He called for all the members of the Ravenclaw team to see him. He said that he had someone in mind to replace Doris Crockford, our keeper, who left last year."

"I hope you got a good one for your team's sake," Tyler said with a hint of humor, which Reggie caught immediately but decided to play along.

"Oh, I'm sure alright, besides I think that you going to have a problem getting a replacement for your former captain Oakmire. By the way, do you know who the new slytherin captain is?"

"Oh, not yet. Besides, even if I did, I can't really tell you that. Secret weapons, ever heard of them?"

"Okay, I can understand that. I see you're using my gift."

"Yeah," Tyler said touching his gelled hair lightly. "It's great, thanks Reggie."

"No problem. It's high time you fixed up your hair. Sometimes it could get really messy. I'm heading down to the grounds to hang with Brad by the usual tree on the grounds. Jacke is going to join us, how about you?"

"No thanks, I'm going to continue my walk, then do something I've been meaning to do and then join up with Matt and Morgan."

"Alright, see you later mate. I do hope you're going to work on something."

"Classes haven't even started yet."

"Yeah, but figuring that you're trying to do work now, I say that you saved your summer homework for the last possible moment. See ya."

He left with Tyler shaking his head at how Reggie's interest in studies. 'Even though me and Jacke are trying to lighten him up, he's still unbreakable when it comes to work, especially homework. I just hope that Brad doesn't get too influenced by Reggie,' he thought since Brad and Reggie where as close as Jacke and himself.

He continued walking on until he got to the exact part of the corridor on the map. 'Let's see, according to the map, my ancestor's office used to be right here.'

He looked at the door that he knew was a classroom.

'The map says that the entrance to this hidden chamber is around here.' He followed the trail to the room where the indicator led, which turned out to be a girl's bathroom.

"Out of Order" he read silently to himself.

Tyler looked around for anyone and when he realized he was alone, he opened the door and went right in. The bathroom looked a little damp but he saw it was empty. There were a circle of sinks and to the left there were about ten cubicles. From the cubicles, Tyler could hear a little bit of wailing.

'Sounds like a girl,' he nervously thought.

He went to hide on the opposite side of the sinks so that he couldn't be seen when he saw that the sound was coming from a ghost of a girl. She caught sight of him and then made a dirty look.

"What are you doing here?! This is a girl's bathroom. You shouldn't be here!"

"Oh sorry, I just...strayed in here."

"Strayed? I'm not buying it. You came in here to laugh at me, didn't you?"

"Laugh at you?"

"Yeah, all the girls who know me. They think I don't know they tease me. Moping Myrtle. Mourning Myrtle. Poor Moaning Myrtle. I know and I don't like for you to ruin my death!"

She then let out a scream and then flew right into a toilet with the lid closing shut. Tyler just looked at the display with unbelieving eyes when he remembered why he was there. He went back to the map and read the little note of instructions to do at the marker.

Say Open Up in Parseltongue to open passage.

He opened his mouth and then hissed the words nice and clearly "_Open Up_."

The sinks then did a little shake and then started to move. They spread themselves out and one of them lowered to the ground leaving a space to jump down inside a tunnel or a pipe. He looked at the map again to read the next pair of words.

"Important: The passage to the chamber is very deep underground. There is a trick footstone in the tunnel entrance. Just hiss "Trick Stone Slide" and there will be a good supply of ropes that are charmed to bring its holder up by pulling four consecutive times.

Tyler followed the instructions written on the parchment and hissed out loudly, "_Trick Stone Slide_"

He heard the sound of stone rubbing against each other and was that one of the stones that made the floor was overlapping the other. Inside there was a small compartment full of the ropes described on the map. He took one and finally did he notice that on the side of the pipe was a hook, which Tyler deduced was to put the rope on. He put on lasso on the hook and tightened it. He threw the rest of the rope down and saw it disappear down the dark pipe.

He was about to jump down when he heard a rustling sound. He turned around with his wand pulled out during that brief second but found that it was only Chaos.

"_Chaos, why are you sneaking up on me_?"

"_I wasn't sneaking, you're just paranoid."_

"_Well, can you blame me? What are you doing down here anyway_?"

"_I saw you come in here alone and I decided to come with you. I got bored with staying in my little place and decided to be with you_."

"_I'm going down this long pipe. Care to join me? It might be dangerous_."

"_What kind of familiar would I be if I don't help you master_?"

"_Chaos_," he said as his snake wrapped himself to his leg. "_How many times must I say it, don't, call, me, master_," he said emphasizing every word.

He took a deep breath and then jumped down the hole. He felt like he was sliding down a slope. It would've been fun had it not been for the plumbing exterior. He finally landed on a hard rocky covering that was completely dark. He took his wand out.

"_Lumos_"

He found the end of the rope and left it at the edge of the slide so he would know where it was if he needed to find it. He took his wand and placed it to the map to read the next pair of instructions.

Say close to the statue of a miniature gargoyle in parseltongue to close the entrance up above.

Tyler looked around and saw a small gargoyle statue on the wall to the left of the pipe and then said, "_Close_" in parseltongue. He heard something echoing all the way down to where he was and then the sound of something heavy closing. Apparently, the gargoyle closed the bathroom entrance.

Tyler walked on down the trail. There were stalagmites and stalactites coming from everywhere. He kept seeing this display until he came across a big iron door. This door had a good bit of green stone snakes around it to act as a lock. If Tyler didn't know any better than he could've swore that these snakes were actually real.

Tyler looked at the next pair of instructions on the map, which read: Say Open.

"_Open_," he hissed.

The sound of locks opening was heard and the iron door soon started to move aside revealing a hole and a lit room in the distance.

"_Tyler_?" hissed Chaos. "_Are you sure that this is safe_?"

"_There's only one way to find out Chaos. Besides, no one could've possibly been here unless my ancestor made two maps to this place. Unless that happened then I'm holding the only way anyone can even know this is here_."

They moved into the chamber together and came into a big room, which had a slytherin style décor. There were snake statues and Tyler saw a few giant sized pipes leading to and from the chamber.

"Wow Tyler, what is this place?"

"_Well Chaos, according to the map I found at the house, this is called "The Chamber of Slytherin". Let's look around_."

Tyler moved throughout the chamber until he came to the end of it. There was a statue of a person who Tyler did not have to guess hard of his identity. He had seen his picture on family portraits and on school tapestries and statues.

"_Chaos, look, this is my ancestor Salazar Slytherin_."

"_Whoa...Tyler, do you mind if I look around_?"

"_Okay, but don't slither off too far. Stay where I can see you...I don't believe it, you have me acting like my mother_."

Chaos laughed at him and slithered off to check out the chamber himself while Tyler stayed at the statue.

'Well, I can tell that my ancestor really knew how to decorate,' he thought with sarcasm. 'I wonder what is so special about this place. Surely, if a place like this doesn't have it's secrets then it wouldn't be secret. Might as well look at the map to see if there is anything.'

He scanned the parchment again and saw there were only two lines left on the parchment. The next one read: To call forth the Guardian, hiss "Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four" and he will emerge.

'Why do I feel that my ancestor had a very big head?'

He turned to the statue and hissed very clearly to it. "_Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four_."

His ancestor's statue started to open it's mouth revealing a giant hole. He heard Chaos slither towards him and bare his fangs for protection. Tyler heard a faint hiss coming from the statue and then he was something start to come out. It was a giant snake. It slithered out and stood up tall and Tyler thought it must be about 20 or 30 feet high. Tyler didn't recognize the species of the snake but he had a feeling that he seen something like this before like the answer was in the back of his mind. The snake just stood there and looked at Tyler with it's big yellow eyes. The stare was piercing and many feelings were shared during the exchange such as wonder, excitement, curiosity, surprise and many others.

Tyler walked closer to it with Chaos by his side and asked simply "_Who are you_?"

It answered back immediately. "_I am the Guardian Basilisk for Slytherin_."

'A Basilisk? So this is how one looks like up close. Grandpa told me about these snakes but he never actually showed me a picture or anything.'

"_Who are you young one_?" it asked.

"_Oh...I am Tyler and this is my faithful familiar Chaos_," he said introducing him and his snake in the most introducing voice he could muster.

"_Are you by any chance related to Master Salazar Slytherin_?"

"_Yes, I am. I'm a direct descendant of him, why_?"

"_I was commanded by him to only obey him and those who share his blood. Other than that, I answer to no one_."

"_So, if you answer to no one else then how come you talked to me when you weren't sure of who I was_?"

"_I smelled the scent of my old master and thought he had returned to me. But, I saw you and became confused_."

"_Smelled my ancestor's scent? How_?"

"_It's coming from your side_."

'My side?' He looked at his side but found nothing that would give off his ancestor's scent until he felt his wand holster and then it dawned on him.

"_You were smelling the scent he left over on his wand. I just happen to be his wand heir_."

"Oh I see. Well, what is your bidding master?"

Tyler let out a frustrating breath of air and put his face in his hands in annoyance. He could hear Chaos talking to the Basilisk.

"_He hates when I call him master so you'd better not also_."

"_Excuse me_," he said cutting in shutting Chaos up. "_I was wondering if you have a name by which I can call you_."

"_I have no name at all. My old master always called me Basilisk_."

"_Basilisk? Well, excuse me Basilisk but do you mind if I call you something instead of that_."

"_Your wish is my command_."

"_Well...how about...I call you Basil, short for Basilisk? Would you be okay with that_?"

"_Whatever you wish_."

"_No, I'm asking you if you like it_."

"_Whatever you wish_."

'I don't believe this' he thought frustratingly. "_Don't you have a will of your own_?"

"_No_."

"_Fine, Basil it is. Answer me from that_."

"_As you command master_."

"_And, Don't, Call, Me, Master. Call me Tyler please_."

"_Very well_."

"_Excuse Me Basil. But what is your purpose for being here? You said you were a Guardian, what exactly do you guard_?"

"_I protect and serve the Slytherin bloodline to the fullest of my abilities in any way I can_."

"_So, you've been hidden in this chamber for around a thousand years waiting for a descendant of my ancestor to let you out so you could carry out their commands all this time_?"

"_I was waiting all 1000 years. I was let out of my seal of about 35 years ago by a young man named Tom Riddle who was also of Slytherin's blood_."

"_My Cousin_?!" he hissed angrily.

"_Your cousin released me and I did his bidding since it was my duty to follow those of Master Salazar Slytherin's blood_."

"_What did he command you to do_?"

"_He sent me out through a series of tunnels and pipes all inside the school and attack students of his choosing and try to kill them with my penetrating gaze_. _He called these sets of humans that I attacked "Mudbloods"._"

'That's right,' Tyler thought. 'A basilisk can kill you with a look.' He then became angry when he put thought into what his cousin used Basil for.

"_You attacked innocent students just because they were muggleborn_?" he hissed angrily at Basil.

"_I did only my duty and what I vowed to Master Slytherin_."

Tyler looked at Basil and then to Chaos then to put his head down. 'So Tom Riddle was in this chamber too. I can't believe he used something of the Slytherin family for his sick twisted pleasure. He was even sick when he was at school here.' He looked at his watch and realized that he had been gone for almost 3 hours.

"_Basil, get back into the statue. I will return another time and I have a few more questions to ask_."

"_It will be done_."

The basilisk headed for the opening in the statue but Tyler suddenly had one more question that he felt couldn't wait.

"_Wait! I have one more question before you go_." The basilisk stopped and then he asked his question. "_You said that you could kill with a look. So how come I didn't die when you looked at me in the eye_?"

"_Simple, only parselmouths are immune to my look when I'm using it's power. Also, I can control the power in my eyes if I or my master doesn't wish death on anything I gaze at_."

"_Thank you Basil. Now, rest until I return_."

The snake went inside and Tyler hissed, "_Close_" to the statue and it sealed Basil up again.

"_Come on Chaos, I better get back before Matt and Morgan go out looking for me_."

"_Okay Tyler. I happen to be happy to be away from Basil. He doesn't have any self esteem and that makes me mad_."

"_Yeah, I know. No will of his own. Imagine having to serve anyone of a certain bloodline no matter who it is_."

On their way to the rope exit, Chaos said one final thing.

"_I'm going to look long and hard for a way to get down to the chamber by the tunnel network like Basil said_."

When they got to the rope, Tyler pulled on it four times and he was shot up the passage back to the entrance in the bathroom of that loud ghost girl.

(---)

**End of Chapter 5**

SwollenFridge: Great to hear from you again. I'm glad that this story is turning out to be your favorite. I'm honored.

Tigercub15: I didn't get what you were trying to ask about Lily and James. But your question on how old Tom Riddle is. If he was 69 in the 5th book then right now he would be right at 50.

Author Notes:

Well, Tyler has found the Chamber of Secrets. To those who ask why the map says that this is the Chamber of Slytherin, there is a good answer to that. Salazar Slytherin named this place the Chamber of Slytherin but after he left Hogwarts, the public called it the Chamber of Secrets.

The next chapter will have the start of the school year's classes. One favor to ask, if anyone knows the name of the previous Care of Magical Creatures teacher then feel free to tell me and help me out.

Review.


	6. News and People's Business

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 6: News and People's Business

The following day approached with hesitation from all. Everyone in the castle, the student population anyway, dreaded to begin the first day of classes. Tyler got up and gave a big yawn and stretch before he went to get himself ready.

'Time to get started.'

(---)

Jacke moved out of his bed and made his way to his trunk so that he could get his school robes and get himself ready. He let out a yawn and stretch when he got to the boys' dorm bathroom.

'Time to get started.'

(---)

Reggie got out of bed and went to his trunk where his clothes were already folded and picked out and for his bag that he had readied last night. He had himself completely ready for the new sets of classes he was going to take.

'Time to get started.'

(---)

Brad headed over to a couch in the common room so that he could organize his books into his bag so that he wouldn't make himself look messy and that he would be able to be ready when classes started. He finished getting cleaned up and headed to the Great Hall for breakfast.

'Time to get started.'

(---)

Tyler started eating his scrambled eggs and bacon when the morning post arrived. He looked up to see that Pandy had arrived with the morning mail. He landed in front of Tyler with the new issue of the Daily Prophet.

'I don't remember making an inscription to the Daily Prophet,' he thought. He shrugged his shoulders and took it. He unfolded it and almost spit out his food when he say the headlines.

**DEATH EATERS SLAY APPROX. 100 MUGGLES**

_Last night, at around midnight, there was a serious attack on a muggle town in Norway. When Ministry personnel arrived on the scene, they were greeted with a blaze of burning homes muggle bodies and the sign of You Know Who known as the Dark Mark. Eyewitness reports from survivors have made it clear that the Dark Lord's servants or Death Eaters were involved in the attack. Fallen muggle residents were found with traces of the killing curse performed on them. This attack on the area is suspected to be a random bit of muggle-baiting for whatever reason that has yet to be discovered. The head of the Department of Law Enforcement Bartemius Crouch, has stated that he has told the entire Auror Department to be completely ready to go at any word of an attack from He-who-must-not-be-named. As you are reading this issue, The Minister of Magic, the entire Wizengatmot and Auror Department heads are debating on the best course of actions to be done with dealing with the Death Eater menace._

_"I assure you that we will come up with methods for stopping this madness of dark activity. We will not stand by and allow You-Know-Who and his followers to get away with what they've done," quoted Bartemius Crouch before he turned down any further questions._

Tyler didn't feel like eating anymore as he pushed his plate of unfinished eggs away from him. He glanced at the rest of the great hall and saw a few people who did have a copy whispering or shell-shocked of the picture of the Dark Mark hanging over houses in the village. He immediately had the ashamed feeling like after he just did something to really upset somebody.

'NOT AGAIN,' he thought with irritation. 'Can't my cousin get a clue?'

He got up and headed to the Greenhouses early since he lost his appetite. This class was with the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws so Reggie would be here with him. Reggie would understand why he was feeling low but he decided not to let Reggie put up with his guilty feelings since he didn't deserve that especially on their first day of classes for the term. Tyler decided to try and avoid conversations even closely related about what the Prophet printed out all together and just get through the first day.

'Yeah, just stay silent during those talks and I'll be fine.'

(---)

Jacke entered the Great Hall with Brad next to him since they met up along the way. They sat at their tables and started to eat when the mail came. His family owl Knave delivered a letter from home to him and he treated him with letting him share his orange juice. After eating a little, he looked up to see Tyler leaving the Great Hall looking stressed out and having a dead look in his eyes.

'That's strange. Usually, Tyler doesn't leave the Great Hall without Regulus, Stellers or Carroway in the mornings. Something must be up.'

Then Brad came up to Jacke and slammed his paper next to him. Then he sat at his other side.

"Jacke? Did you see Tyler leave just now?"

"Yeah, I saw him, he looked really upset on something."

"I think that this is the answer why."

Brad moved the paper over so that they could read it together. Jacke opened his eyes at the photograph of the Dark Mark, which resembled a human skull with a snake slithering from its mouth.

"Well...now we know why Tyler left. This must make him sick to his stomach."

"Naturally," Brad said sarcastically to Jacke but trying to keep his voice down so no one would overhear. "His cousin needs psychological help. I mean, killing innocent muggles just for no reason. Also, it looks like the picture of the Dark Mark may have also hit him hard. Remember what he said about how he and his family are when Voldemort disgraces their race like this?"

"Yeah I know," he said remembering how Tyler never really liked talking about that but was conveniently saved by changes in the subject.

Reggie joined them at that moment with a half eaten piece of toast in his hands. He too also had an issue of the paper under his shoulder and then joined in on the conversation.

"I think that the thing that really bothers him is the fact that his cousin uses a snake as part of his symbol and helps in giving them even more bad reputations," Reggie said.

"Yeah, and snakes aren't that bad especially in the muggle world. I've never seen the Dark Mark before but now that I see it, I can't say that Tyler doesn't deserve to be upset when there are some that are very harmless."

"What do you mean by that Brad?" asked Jacke.

"Well, in the muggle world, a lot of people buy snakes as pets to have. Most of them are practically harmless and most of the time, people buy them and cats so that they have a way to get rid of mice. I remember that my mother wanted a cat to eat the mice and she turned down a rat eating snake because the guy said that it would take about a week for them to digest them and she didn't feel like seeing a lump in it's figure from it's hunts," Brad said smiling at the memory of his shaken mom.

"Well, I haven't grown up in the muggle world Brad. In the wizarding world, we were taught one thing from our birth. Watch out for snakes especially those controlled by parselmouths because they are deadly and it could mean our lives. Now, we're all being told to beware of Voldemort.

"Well, Tyler deserves someone to be with him during these times. I had better go, after all, I have my next class with him at the Greenhouses. He probably left early to have time alone there, I'll go join him."

"But classes aren't for another 15 minutes," Jacke said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't head there fast to avoid being late."

"Alright, bye Reggie," Brad said drinking the last of the juice from his goblet.

"See you later mate," Jacke added.

"Will do," Reggie replied before leaving.

Over on the other side at the Slytherin table, Carroway, Stellers and Regulus got up. Carroway got up and left the Great Hall but Stellers and Regulus went over to Brad and Jacke. They looked up at them and it was Morgan Stellers who spoke first.

"Er...Jacke Walker and Brad Carter right?"

"Yeah," said Brad.

"Hey Regulus," Jacke said.

"Hey guys. Listen, do you know where Tyler is?" he asked.

"Oh, he just went over to the Greenhouses early today. He...felt like having a good morning of fresh air so he left. Reggie went to join him a little while ago."

"So Matt was right. He got you there Morgan," Regulus said with a little humor.

"Oh sod off Regulus. I'll see you later."

Regulus left but Morgan stayed behind.

"Was Tyler okay? I noticed you took a little while to answer," she said narrowing her eyes at Jacke.

Jacke was a little taken back at her analysis but quickly answered out of nervousness.

"Oh, I'm just feeling a little warm, that's it."

"Oh, okay then. Bye."

When she left, Brad nudged Jacke at the shoulder. "Girl trouble?"

"No," he said glumly.

"It's okay, personally, I think she's really good looking."

"Well...she's okay, I guess. Tyler does hang around with her so I guess she has a great personality."

"Yeah, I seem to notice that you seem a little into her."

"What? No. It's just that...she was the first girl I fought with. Remember, she was one of my opponents in the tournament?"

"Oh right, sorry Jacke."

"You'd better be. I don't fancy her okay. To be honest, I kind of already have...never mind."

"Come on, tell me."

"You were acting stupid thinking I like Morgan Stellers, do you really think I'm going to tell you a girl that I sort of fancy?"

"Good point, it is your business but I'll find out eventually."

"You're taking too much out of Reggie Brad."

"Well, judging how you and Tyler are, I'll take that as a compliment."

"Good," 'since it was meant to be one' he added in his thoughts. He then cast a look at a certain blonde haired girl further down the table when he was sure that Brad wasn't looking. Then they both took off so they could go to their Arithmancy class together.

(---)

Tyler's mood eased as the day went on. Sure there were nervous talks about what happened in the paper but Tyler got distracted by all that thanks to his friends. Reggie had spoken to him that if he was feeling okay by what he read this morning when he caught up to him in the greenhouses. Tyler appreciated how he talked about the paper sensitively and it made him feel better when Reggie said that Tyler shouldn't be beating himself up because of his loopy cousin. Matt and Morgan also kept Tyler's mind off the news with playing word games and having fun conversations with him during Herbology when they had to cut swamptrine roots, which were plants with magical roots, which were often used in blood replenishing potions.

They had their first Care of Magical Creatures class after Charms with the Gryffindors. Their teacher was a beat up looking man that seemed to have been beat up over the years by creatures of many types since there were scratch, teeth and gash marks of his hands, feet and parts of his face. They started off by learning about creatures called gargoyles. They looked like imps except they have scaly wings, large teeth feet claws.

According to their teacher, gargoyles are creatures that rarely show themselves at will to humans. When they do, it is because they can sense serious disease coming from them, which they feed off of. He said that long ago, muggles made statues of gargoyles to protect themselves from horrible plagues. They spent the lesson feeding chunks of meat to the gargoyles, which were only about 1 ½ high each.

Tyler was with Morgan since she asked him to be her partner before Jacke could but then he went to work with a long, curly, blonde haired girl by the name of Jennifer Gardner. Tyler did a double take on her. He remembered her from their previous classes with Gryffindor but he remembered her looking differently then before. Before she looked like any average girl but now she looked very...cute. She had a little bit of makeup on but it was enough to be appealing. She had nice eyes and a charming air around her that Tyler was entranced in. He didn't know why she had his attention especially since he knew a lot of other girls that were more beautiful then she was but he couldn't stop looking at her for some reason.

He was snapped back into reality when Morgan got his shoulder.

"Tyler, hello."

"Hmm, what?"

"I asked whether you wanted to throw this gargoyle the next piece of meat. Is that new cool hairstyle blocking the air to your head?" she asked both annoyingly and humor.

"Oh, no, I think I've had enough with throwing meat to these guys. They're kind of creepy to the spine."

"Don't be a baby."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"Not."

"Are."

"Whatever," Tyler said sealing away the argument. "You feed it the next piece of meat. I've had enough."

"Okay, Tyler, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You seem...distracted. You were focused until a little while ago. What caught your attention?"

"Er...nothing. Don't worry about me. Everyone seems to be doing that a lot lately. I mean, you, Regulus, Jacke, Reggie, Brad but especially you. I'm okay you know."

"Sorry, just asking." She turned away a little annoyed at his antics and Tyler smirked at his victory for ending the argument as the victor.

When Morgan went to drop in another piece of meat to the gargoyle, Tyler thoughts went to Basil back in the underground chamber. 'Maybe I should visit him again before dinner. But I better be careful that no one sees.'

Meanwhile, Jacke was working with Jennifer Gardner on the gargoyle and meat. They were talking about their classes and why they took them.

"So, you chose Ancient Runes because you're interested in ancient languages?" Jacke asked.

"Yeah, I like mystery. Let's say that my curiosity is very powerful. You know," she said suddenly. "You're not so bad."

"What?" he said surprisingly.

"You're always hanging out with the guy that plays seeker on the slytherin team. You may not know this since it gets said when you're not around but they sometimes think he has you bewitched because he plays the same position that you do for the opposite team and you guys are always together."

"Well, he's my best friend. No more to it."

"Still, it's a little strange. But you don't seem strange at all. You're a really great guy."

"Thanks," Jacke said rubbing the back of his head and coughing. "But, honestly, Tyler's my friend and he really is the best friend anyone can have in my opinion. He's right there by Morgan Stellers."

He pointed over to where Tyler and Morgan were sharing the attention of a gargoyle. She looked over there and opened her eyes wide at the sight of him. "Well...he does seem nice and I can't remember him giving any of us a hard time."

"Trust me, he's great."

"Well Jacke Walker, you surprise me."

"I do?" he asked a little too quickly. "Er...well maybe we could hang out more often."

"I'd like that," Jennifer said with a sparkle to her eyes that Jacke insides churned in response to.

The class ended and Tyler headed off so he could finish his dinner quickly so that he could have more time chatting with Basil.

(---)

Reggie and Brad were at their first Arithmancy class while the other two seekers were at Care of Magical Creatures. Their classroom had desks big enough for two and they were stations in three columns. Brad and Reggie sat next to each other but they didn't have to wait any amount of time for their teacher to walk in. Their teacher was a middle-aged woman who started to show signs of age with a few gray hairs, wore rim glasses leveled on the top of the frames and had a calculating type face.

"Hello third years. I am Professor Vector. Welcome to Arithmancy. I will tell you the basics of this class as soon as I take the roll call."

As she went through the names of everyone in the classroom, Brad and Reggie went into talking.

"I can't wait to get started on this class. Can you believe it? Learning the techniques in creating magic and also how the process is for creating spells."

"Easy Reggie. I'm excited too. You really got me, Jacke and Tyler interested when you told us about these last year. Don't worry, it'll start."

"Speaking about Tyler, he seems very distracted lately."

"Well Reggie, I can't really blame him. The news this morning would have him quiet."

"No, I mean before that."

"What?"

"Well, Regulus came to me after Herbology today and pulled me aside for a talk. He wanted to know if Tyler had improved after class because he said that late last night he was looking like his mind was completely somewhere else. He said that while Tyler was playing games with him, Carroway and Stellers, Tyler was always zoning out during the games and he lost every time very badly."

"Wow, since last night? He seemed fine until we left during the afternoon."

"That, I'm not even sure of. I ran into him a few minutes before I joined you and Jacke at the tree."

They had to stop there because Professor Vector had finished the roll call and went into the explanations on what to expect in the class. She then started writing notes and charts for them to copy which Brad and Reggie did and resumed their conversation while doing it.

"You saw him acting weird?" Brad whispered to Reggie.

"Yeah, he seemed to be looking for or avoiding something. I was just leaving Professor Flitwick's office were I was with the other remaining members of the house team listening to him about a person that he thought had great keeper potential and telling us that Jasper Sagat made captain when I spotted him and he jumped when he saw me. I also noticed he had a piece of parchment in his hands but he folded it up quickly when we bumped into each other."

"A piece of parchment. It just could've been some work he was doing alone." Reggie gave Brad a look that plainly asked "Are you kidding?" "Okay, I know, Tyler doesn't like independent study unless..." Then Brad stopped copying the notes and went into shocking thought. "Unless it was one of our little adventure stunts," he said shockingly quiet even though he lost thought on being quiet.

"Yeah, I didn't think too much of the parchment thing until Regulus had also asked me if anything happened while he hung with us. I knew then and there that Tyler is...hiding something, something even from us."

"Whoa. It's gotta be big if he didn't even tell us."

"Yeah, maybe we should find out what it is."

"Are you sure Reggie? Tyler knows that he can trust us. Besides, it is his own business and I don't want him to think we're spying on him because we think he's up to no good. Ever heard the phrase "Mind your own business?""

"Silly, we're just going to watch him to see if he's okay. I'll tell Jacke and I'm sure he'll agree to this. We aren't doing this because we're spying, we're doing it because we're curious and concerned."

"You're going to use a loophole? Pretty smart."

"Hello, what house am I in?"

'Perfect...Seems Jacke isn't the only ones that Tyler is affecting,' Brad thought amusingly. "Okay but don't you forget what house I'm in. We Hufflepuffs try not to lie at all. If Tyler accuses us of spying then I'll tell him who really thought it up and being a hufflepuff gives me an automatic reliability."

They both made good smirks like Tyler usually did when he accomplished something with satisfying results. Then they went back to finish taking their notes.

When they left after the bell sounded, Brad put his hand on Reggie's shoulder to draw his attention.

"You know Reggie, sometimes you're a little too curious, and observant for your own good."

"And you're too concerning and trusting for your own good too."

(---)

Tyler had the parchment in his bag and took it out and placed it in his robe pockets and headed out for dinner when he put away his bag. Tyler still didn't have the passing words memorized so he kept the parchment. He went to dinner and tried to eat quickly but not too quickly to make it look like he was hiding something.

Little did he know that three sets of eyes were on him looking on as he sped through his meal and left his slytherin pals to go off on his own. They also left their tables and went in close pursuit. They went quietly and saw that Tyler kept looking around him to see if anyone was around and sometimes ducked back to make double sure.

"Whoa, he's being a bit paranoid," Jacke said surprised.

"For good reason," said Brad.

"Enough, quiet," Reggie said silencing them. "Look...I think he's heading over to that bathroom."

They saw Tyler take one more observation and then he went in. His fellow seekers charged right in after him.

(---)

**End of Chapter 6**

Well, this chapter went a little into a bit of fluff but I thought it was the appropriate time for it. Bad luck for Tyler starting the first day of classes with the news of his cousin's antics huh? Well, he'd better get used to it because we all know that his cousin led a good reign of terror before he lost his powers thanks to Harry. The next chapter will be a good bit of explaining coming from Tyler and a good bit of discovery down in the chamber. Though I haven't come up with a name for the chapter yet.


	7. The Secret of the Creation

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Excuse me. I know that I usually save notes till the end of the story but this won't take long. I just realized that I haven't put a Disclaimer for this story like for my others. Well, nothing here belongs to me and is the rightful property of JKR except for the prospect of the Seekers and so on and so on. Thank you.

(---)

Chapter 7: The Secret of the Creation

Tyler had closed the door behind him and already had one of the expanding ropes from the secret floor compartment in the bathroom. Thankfully, the ghost Moaning Myrtle wasn't there which Tyler thought was something not short of a blessing. He hissed the password for the sinks to break apart and before they could finish revealing the hole, the door to the bathroom opened. Tyler blood ran as cold as ice when he heard the door open and dropped the rope and map down on the floor. He turned and went for his wand but stopped at the sight of his fellow seekers who looked just as surprised as he did.

"What are the three of you doing here?! Trying to give me a heart attack."

"What are we doing here? What are YOU doing here?" they asked simultaneously.

Tyler was starting to find that the way that two or more of them said the same things together was starting to get a little creepy. Jacke was also starting to think that this was strange as well. Reggie and Brad thought it was a little funny and bonding.

Tyler spoke. "No, first you guys answer my question. How did you find me here?"

"We followed you," Brad said in the most simplest tone any of the other three ever heard. Then this was followed by light laughter by all of them at how Brad told Tyler their answer.

"We wanted to find out what was up with you. You've been looking distracted ever since this morning," Jacke added after he got out of the humor fit he was in.

"It was just the article this morning," he said trying to sound convincing before he remembered that the entrance to the chamber was wide open behind him making his story completely unbelievable and stupid.

"Yeah," Reggie said slowly like someone speaking to a small child. "It wouldn't also be about the tunnel or hole behind you too right?"

"First things first," Tyler said a little annoyed at himself. "Why were you following me?"

"We wanted to see what you were up to," Brad answered.

"Please, why would you think I was up to something?"

Reggie went up to him. "Because, you told me that you were going to be hanging out with Regulus, Carroway and Stellers when we caught each other yesterday but Regulus came to me earlier today and asked if anything interesting happened with all four of us yesterday because he thought you were with us, that's why."

'Damn Reggie's brains,' Tyler thought in annoyance. "Okay, okay, you caught me," he said in surrender.

"So, what's with the tunnel?" asked Jacke.

"Oh, I found this map at the secret spot at home that I got the "books" from and it led me here. According to this map, it's called the Chamber of Slytherin."

"The Chamber of Slytherin? That wouldn't happen to be your ancestor Salazar Slytherin wouldn't it?" Brad asked.

"Yeah, the same one. Apparently, this is here because he placed it here."

"This seems very familiar to me," said Brad. "Don't you guys move, I'll be right back."

Brad ran out of the bathroom and the remaining three friends looked at each other in wonder.

"What do you think Brad thinks?" asked Reggie.

"Don't know."

"No clue."

Brad came back after about ten minutes with a book in his hand that looked like one of the school's books. He was breathing hard. Apparently, he had run to avoid any teachers and prefects since the patrols were going to start soon.

"Brad, what do you got there?" asked Reggie.

"Oh, this is a book that I bought last year. It's called Hogwarts, A History. This has everything about the school's history and legends."

"Why did you bring that?"

"Well Jacke, when I came to Hogwarts I was really excited but I decided to find out more about this school and I bought this book. I just finished reading it the week before we came back here during the summer."

"You're rubbing off on him Reggie," Tyler said with his smile smirk combination.

"Oh shut up. Anyway, what does this book have to do with this chamber Tyler found Brad?"

"Oh, well, I remember something about a chamber being mentioned in this book. Hold on." He opened the book and began turning the pages looking for the right one until he seemed to have found it. "Here guys, I found it. "The Legend of the Chamber of Secrets"."

"The Chamber of Secrets?" repeated Jacke, Tyler and Reggie simultaneously.

"Yeah, well let me read the passage."

**Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded about a thousand years ago by four greatest witches and wizards of the age. They were Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. They built this school together and to this day have the four houses named after them. For years, they worked in harmony until the subject of bringing children with non-magical parents to be taught was brought up. A serious rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. He believed that these sorts of children were untrustworthy. This resulted in a serious debate between Slytherin and Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin left the school. According to legend, Salazar Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle known as the Chamber of Secrets, which has never been found. The chamber is said to have a hidden horror in the form of a monster, which Slytherin or an heir of Slytherin could control, and use to purge the school of those who were unworthy to study magic in Slytherin's eyes.**

The four of them looked blank when Brad finished the passage. This was until Tyler spoke out against what he was sure was on their minds.

"Oh come on. You guys don't seriously believe that that's what I was planning to do with this chamber right?" He was sure to say it in a tone that made the thing seem like a big joke and by a miracle, it seemed to have worked.

"Of course not. You're not like that," Reggie said.

"Yeah, I shouldn't be afraid of this. I mean, we're friends and I know you would never hurt me or anyone like me because of blood type," said Brad.

"Come on mate, give us some credibility. We're not accusing you of anything. That story is rubbish," said Jacke.

"Thanks, for a second, I thought you guys thought I was going to kill of muggleborns for sport." Tyler said with a relief outtake of air. "It's strange though, the map says that this place is called the Slytherin Chamber. I wonder how it was changed. It's probably nothing to think about. I've seen down there and I think the map gives the more accurate name. I was about to go down there when you guys showed up. You don't have to wait around here. You could go back to your common rooms now that you know what I was doing."

"I am curious what's down there," Reggie said after a while looking over to the hole.

"I could show you guys if you want," Tyler insisted.

His friends' expression immediately changed from joking to downright worried and scared.

"Er...there really isn't a monster down there right?" Jacke asked with a squeaky voice sounding a little worried.

"Er...well...there is a beast down there but he isn't a monster...not much."

"Not much?" Brad asked starting to shake a little.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you if I command it not to hurt you. Remember, I'm an heir of Slytherin, that means it will listen to me."

"Are you sure?" Reggie asked still with his eyes on the hole.

"Trust me. I've already been down there before with Chaos yesterday."

"Are you absolutely sure that you have full control over it?" Reggie asked with even more tension then before.

Tyler realized that the three of them were very curious about what was down there but they were scared senselessly. He couldn't really blame them even if he was a little annoyed at their unnecessary worry. The passage in the book really made it out to be a torture and execution chamber. Then Tyler got a little plan into that cunning head of his and decided to use a trick, which he picked up from Regulus.

"Look, if you don't want to go in then you don't have to. I didn't let you guys in on this discovery because I knew that you might not handle going to a chamber which my ancestor built. You don't have to be scared for me."

The effect of his reverse back talking seemed to hit Jacke immediately.

"Scared? Scared? Who says I'm scared to go down there?"

"Reggie said it himself. You guys aren't sure I have full control over it. I don't blame you especially since Brad read that passage in the book. If you want to go and avoid anything then I'll completely understand."

"What?!" Brad said just as insulted as Jacke was. "You think we can't handle it? You make it sound so easy but you think we can't do it."

"Your words, not mine," Tyler said trying to hold back a smile.

"Come on Tyler," Reggie said with a surprisingly annoyed tone. "The reverse psychology won't work on me."

"Reverse pyscogy?" asked Jacke and Tyler.

'Right' thought Reggie. 'They wouldn't know it that way.' "I meant reverse back talking."

'Damn his brains again,' Tyler thought in annoyance. 'Why did Reggie have to be so smart in catching this stuff?'

His friends stood there looking at Tyler and then the three of them huddled together to talk privately which Tyler assumed was about going down to the chamber with him.

Tyler thought about whether he would like to have them come or not. He thought of the good and bad side of the galleon and was trying to make up his mind. Part of him thought that them going would be bad since this was a little personal family stuff. But...he felt that going with them would help him better understand what he found out when he further investigated the chamber. They could help him with their point of views on things and would give him the feeling that he wasn't amazed or confused all by himself.

Tyler was starting to feel that the more that he let his friends in on his life then the better he seemed to feel. He felt All his life he was told this and that of how to be an honorable parselmouth but he had to do it completely alone (without any human support). He couldn't go to anyone to see if they needed help or help him with something that was confusing or hard to put up with. With his friends, he went through two magical transformations with their help and company. He wasn't alone in trying to learn how to control an element or transforming himself into an animal. His friends were there lost or ahead with him.

Jacke, Reggie and Brad discussed going into the alleged Chamber of Secrets or Slytherin Chamber or whatever it was truly called with Tyler.

"Well, Tyler did say that he went down there with Chaos so maybe it is safe," Brad argued.

"I'm with Brad Reggie," Jacke said. "Besides, he wouldn't lead us to a place where we would get hurt. I know him better than that. You know him better than that."

"I do but we have to think this rationally. First of which is that I'm sure that Tyler wouldn't intentionally harm us but what if whatever is in that chamber doesn't hurt only parselmouths and Tyler doesn't know that. Besides, we don't know what this Beast is down there anyway."

"Well, then just ask him," Brad said simply.

"That would make it sound that we don't trust him."

"Oh please Reggie." Jacke then turned to Tyler. "Tyler, we were wondering what beast is exactly down there so we know it's okay, really," he said tactlessly.

"Jacke!" Reggie said as if he had no manners. Brad simply put his face in his hand and shook his head inside it.

Tyler shook his head at Reggie's reaction to Jacke's question and Brad's action toward both. "It's okay. The creature that's down there is a basilisk. A giant snake."

Jacke and Brad looked a little intrigued but Reggie opened his eyes wide at that. "A Basilisk? I think I've read about them. Yeah, aren't they the snakes that can kill you with a look?"

"The same one, but don't worry," he added at their opened eyes. "I have full control over it. The basilisk won't use the power in his eyes if I tell him not too. He could control it."

"Are you sure?" Jacke asked putting a brave front but a slightly nervous voice at the prospect of killing eyes.

"Yeah...I've looked directly in his eyes and I'm still here. Don't worry," he repeated comfortingly. "The basilisk told me itself that it's bound to serve people that are of my ancestor's blood. That would include me guys."

His friends let out oh's at this, which made Tyler feel guilty that he lied. Basil said that people born with the gift of parseltongue like himself are immune to his power. But...he did say that he could control it so it didn't affect anyone if he wanted so he could simply ask Basil to hide the power in his eyes away from his fellow seekers.

The three remaining seekers went into another small group talk and came up with an agreement. If Tyler can truly control the basilisk then it must be safe to go.

"All right," Reggie said catching Tyler's attention again. "If you say it's safe then we believe you. We decided to check it out too."

"Alright then." He led them to the passage. "Just jump down, it's really fun. The whole thing is just one big slide."

Jacke looked really excited at this which Tyler could very well agree with on the prospect of going down a big slide to a secret chamber would be the best of fun and adventure.

"How do we get back up?" asked Brad.

"Oh, I just throw this rope that my ancestor left which magically pulls us back up here."

He tied the knot of the rope to the hook at the entrance and then slid down to show his friends how harmless and fun it was. When Tyler paid attention to the actual trip down into the chamber, he didn't realize that it was fun. He was so caught up in going down there that he didn't take the time to enjoy the trip.

When the other three jumped into the hole, they screamed out loud in panic or joy, Tyler couldn't tell which without looking at their faces. They all landed in big clumps on the dirt floors.

"Reggie looked on ahead and then looked directly up. "How far are we under the school?"

"Er...I don't really know. Maybe a few feet under the lake probably," answered Tyler.

Then Tyler went to the box on the wall next to where they fell to seal up the entrance and then led the way through the chamber. He could sense they were still tense about going so Tyler continued to try to make small talk to them so that they wouldn't just think about facing a giant snake. After about 4 minutes, the seekers found themselves at the door with the emerald green snakes locks.

"This is the entrance guys," Tyler announced.

Jacke looked at the entrance and then looked at Reggie and Brad. 'Reggie seems so uptight. Sometimes, he could think just too much. Tyler said that it was okay and I believe him but I still can't blame him or Brad at that. He's going to be the first muggleborn to ever actually be in there according to that book. Tyler's trying so hard for us not to be afraid...maybe he needs a little help.' "Tyler, we guessed that," he said simply trying very hard to make it seem like a joke.

Reggie and Brad's faces went from worried to stifle laughter. The place soon filled with their low laughter and Tyler's voice saying "Very funny, very funny" in annoyed tones.

Tyler turned to the door and started to hiss, "Open" to it. His friends just saw that he hissed something, which just sounded like he had a snake in his mouth, which they've seen him do before, but still freaked them out a little, especially here. The door opened with a good metallic creak and they entered right after Tyler did.

Tyler then extended his hands outward in showing fashion. "Well?"

His friends looked around the chamber and had the appearance of people who were just sent to live in this world. Everyone was quiet until one got the courage to speak and it was Jacke.

"Your ancestor really had a one track décor sense didn't he?"

Once he said this, all of them laughed themselves silly at silliness in his question. Reggie and Brad started to forget why they were so worried about and just joined in on the fun.

"Oh guys," Tyler said suddenly. "There is still someone for you guys to meet, that is unless you don't want to," he added quickly so there would be no pressure.

Reggie, Brad and Jacke exchanged looks and then as one, they nodded. Tyler went over to the statue of his ancestor. "_Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four_." 'I still think that my ancestor was a little too big headed,' he thought in amusement.

"Hey Tyler," Reggie asked while the statue was opening. "What did you say to it to open it," he asked curiously.

"Oh right, you don't understand. I just said the password, Speak to me Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four."

The three of them raised their eyebrows at that which Tyler couldn't complain about since he just thought the same thing. 'What an ego.'

"_Whose there_?" hissed out Basil from within the statue.

"_Oh, it's just me Basil, Tyler. Listen, before you come out, you must not use the power in your eyes. I have three friends here and I don't want them harmed at all by you, do you understand?"_

"_Of course master."_

Tyler let out a frustrated breath at this while Basil started to come out. Jacke, Reggie and Brad backed up at the sight of the huge snake coming out of the statue's mouth. Reggie was looking straight down as soon as the sight of the snake met his eyes. Brad wasn't even blinking as he analyzed the size of the snake's body. Jacke was looking from the basilisk to Tyler over again to feel what to expect.

"Guys," Tyler said in meeting. "This is the guardian basilisk of Slytherin. I call him Basil for short."

Jacke lifted his eyebrows again. "Basil?" he asked trying not to ask.

"Don't start with me mate."

Reggie and Brad smiled again at the antics of Jacke and Tyler. Even in awkward situation like this, they always find ways to joke and eliminate the need for worry.

"Oh let me tell Basil who each of you are."

His friends watched as Tyler hissed to the Basilisk which he called Basil and used his hands to point to each of them in an introduction like matter. Then the giant snake made an unmistakable bow not so unlike which they've seen Chaos do when they first saw him last year.

Brad looked Basil straight in the eyes and was really entranced and curious. "Tyler, do those eyes really kill? They don't seem all that special to me."

"Of course, since I told Basil not to have them use their powers. Of course, I could tell him too so you could see for yourself," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Oh no. Never mind," Brad said with his hands up in surrender.

"Hey Tyler," Reggie started. "Can I see that map you mentioned? I want to see how big this place is."

"Oh sure." Tyler handed Reggie the map.

While Reggie was looking at the map and the Basilisk at the same time, the others were crowding around Basil.

"He doesn't really look that bad. I expected something gruesome from what the book and Reggie said," said Brad.

"Honestly, Reggie and books can be so unhealthy. Why do you think me and Tyler don't like reading school books so much?" Jacke said.

"Because the two of you just don't like to study at all period." Brad countered.

"He's got you there," Tyler said petting Basil.

"Anyway," he said annoyed that he lost that argument to Brad. "This snake doesn't seem that bad."

"That would be because I'm not bad," Tyler said.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'll tell you later Brad."

Then Reggie's voice interrupted. "Hey Tyler, come here."

He went over followed by Jacke and Brad leaving Basil standing there stationary since he hasn't had any commands to.

"Tyler, I think there's another folded piece to this parchment. I went to turn it over when my finger slipped and crumpled up the top and I saw another part under it."

"Really? Give it here."

Tyler put a finger in the small space between the papers and slid it to the side and opened it up. Brad pointed to a dark spot on the new side.

"Look, that looks like wax or something. Someone must've folded this parchment over it when it was still wet or something."

The new half of the parchment had another map. It showed the entire chamber itself unlike the other side with directions to it. "Hmm," Tyler said calculative. "It says on this map that there's a secret storeroom to the left of the statue behind a pillar."

They walked over the water to the pillar that was shown on the map where Tyler read that there was a password to open it in Parseltongue. "Let's see, say "Storeroom open" in parseltongue," he read aloud. "_Storeroom Open_."

The bottom half of the pillar magically disappeared into thin air leaving a big space entrance. They walked in and what a sight they found. There was a collection of weapons, which Tyler thought, looked similar to the ones in the mansion but there weren't as many. There was a stack of books in a shelf above them and a chest, which he opened and found, filled with wizard clothes that still looked unaffected by any parasites or moths.

"Hey guys," Brad said suddenly shaking Tyler, Jacke and Reggie up. "Look there's some beams of light ahead.

Brad showed them to a cut off corner in the wall that led to a small room with three wooden display pedestals in the front. All three had beams of light concentrated on them filling the room with a powerful aura. It was as if they stepped into a sacred land all held within the room itself. Reggie had his mouth open at the feeling that the room gave off. Brad had his eyes clothes to feel the energy and breeze given off in the room. Jacke was looking completely around and up the room admiring it completely. Tyler's attention however was on the pedestals that the lights were focused on.

The pedestal on the furthest left had a glass medallion about the size of two fists there with markings and a circular clear glass center. The furthest right had another weird item. It looked like small metal tablet and Tyler could distinctly see an hourglass like design in it. Tyler didn't really pay any heed to either of these objects. He was paying most of his attention on the thing, things on display on the middle one. There was a parchment in a glass covering there and alongside it was a little black book.

Tyler went over to the black book and went to pick it up until he felt Reggie's hand stop him.

"Hold on Tyler. You shouldn't touch that. We don't know what will happen if you do."

Tyler gave an annoyed and exhausted look at his friend. "Reggie, you worry a little too much."

Jacke broke his attention off the small room and decided to back up his best friend. "Yeah, honestly Reggie, sometimes you are too cautious. Don't think too much."

Brad also joined in. "No offense mate but I think they're right. Maybe...you shouldn't think so much." Reggie gave Brad raised eyebrows which clearly said "Are you serious?" until Brad finished. "Well you do."

"Traitor," Reggie said in a playful low voice.

"Just telling the truth."

Reggie let go of Tyler hand and Tyler picked up the book and opened it but before he could read he said, "See? Nothing."

Reggie just folded his arms and Tyler took the situation with the book in his hands as a good life saving distraction. It seemed like they're diary entries which dated to about a thousand years ago. The first page of the book however said **'Property of Salazar'**.

"Guys, I think this might be a diary of my ancestor, Salazar Slytherin."

"Really?" they all asked.

"Yeah," Tyler said too stunned to comment on their ability to all speak together. "But all it really talks about is him starting to leave to explore the world and leaving his village."

"Quick, turn to the last entry to see how far it goes," Reggie suggested.

"Good thinking," Tyler complimented.

"And you guys said that I do that too much."

"Shut up Reggie," they all countered making Reggie stifle a laugh.

Tyler turned to the last entry and was shocked at what it said. "Guys, listen to my ancestor's last entry. It finishes the pages in the book."

**My three friends and I had made our vision a wonderful reality. We harnessed the power of the most magically powerful item ever seen on this plain and used it to shape the land. We poured it onto the earth and let our minds and plans shape it up. A glorious lake sprung up from nowhere. Then came the sight that we four longed to see. A castle, a giant castle came magically onto the spot just like the four of us had hoped and prayed for. It was beautiful. Helga and Rowena were in joyous tears at the sight. Godric and I have each other one armed hugs and opened our eyes and mouths to the sight, which lay before us. We now have a school to teach young ones of our ways and see them grow to be promising people. This new school still needs a name and we are still discussing it. But there is a problem. We had two vials of the power and we only needed to have one. This extra bit needs to be hidden. Godric, Rowena and Helga agreed that I should was the best one to hide the last of it because of my witty and tricky mind. I decided to place it back to the place where we had earned it. But to make sure that it is not completely lost forever, I will stash a map to it away within the school when I find a place where I am sure no student of the upcoming and future generations would find it. I feel this potion might still be found but I hope that it is by those who are worthy. This power is the most powerful thing that I could imagine existing in our world. This power of creation, which can create such wonders and miracles, is what will help us make a true difference in the world of magic. The four of us are thankful and forever in the debt of the magic in the Potion of Fecundity.**

After Tyler finished reading the last entry, the seekers could only just marvel at the knowledge they just learned of the beginning moment of their school of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

(---)

**End of Chapter 7**

I'm not the Weakest Link and Tigercub15: I'm glad to see that you're still updating yourselves on what's going on. Hope to hear more of you though it would be nice if you give me a more detailed opinion on what exactly you like or don't like. That's what Reviews are for.

Author Notes:

Finally! This chapter was very hard to write. For those of you who are curious. The word Fecundity means productive and creative or simply: to make or create. Also, I remembered that the old Care of Magical Creatures Teacher back then was Professor Kettleburn so be ready to hear more of his name. Don't be worried. I know that this is my seventh chapter and it's still not even the end of their first week at Hogwarts but I give you my honest word that I'll move things along. Don't' worry I say again.

Review.


	8. Dejavu?

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 8: Déjà vu? 

As usual, Jacke was able to break the silence. "Wow, that's a really wicked story."

Reggie then found his voice. "I – I can't believe it. That's how Hogwarts was first created? Unreal, I thought that they built it by hand or simple magic or something but who would've thought this? Pouring a potion on the earth and letting it shape it from your thoughts and imagination."

"I know," Brad said. "In Hogwarts, A History it never said exactly how they built it, just that they did."

"Well of course," Tyler said. "My ancestor did write that he and the other three founders didn't want the potion that they used to create the school and shape the grounds to be found by the unworthy. I guess that meant that they didn't want it falling into the wrong hands."

"Of course, didn't you listen to your own ancestor's words?" Reggie said in a tone that Tyler read as "are you deaf?" "This Potion of Fecundity has the power to create and shape land and reality to however you want. Imagine if someone like your cousin got a hold of that kind of power. He would make a stronghold unlike anything to launch his attacks from with too many obstacles to worry about intruders."

"Reggie, I'll say it again for me, Brad and Jacke. You think too much."

Reggie rolled his eyes while Brad and Jacke nodded in agreement with amused smiles.

"Fine whatever."

"Tyler," said Jacke. "Could we see the map that your ancestor left to this potion?"

"Hold on," Reggie said. "I know what you're about to suggest Jacke. I don't think that us hunting down that kind of power is a good idea."

"Why not?" Tyler asked.

"Well for starters, how do we know that this potion still exists?"

"We don't which I think is worth finding out," Jacke countered. "Speaking of which, where does the map say the potion is hidden?"

Tyler pulled out the map and unfolded it to discover that it was a very long piece of parchment. The other three stood behind him and read it with him. Tyler scanned where the marker for the potion's location was and he found it in a place that he couldn't believe was it.

"It says that my ancestor hid it at the near edge of the Forbidden Forest."

"That marker," Brad said pointing to where the indicator was on the map, which looked like a door shaped grouping of trees. "I've seen that kind of formation before. I see it from the windows at the west side of the castle all the time when you gaze into the forest. There are a group of trees with vines completely surrounding it that look just like that. I think that that's a portal."

"Wow, a portal?" Jacke said impressed and excited. "Slytherin really was tricky. Hiding the potion in a portal at the Dark Forest disguising it."

"No Jacke, I just think he disguised it," Tyler said. "Remember, he wrote that he hid it where they originally found it. That portal must be where they originally found the potion and he made it blend in completely with the forest."

"Now that I think about it, according to Hogwarts a History, the forest has always been off limits. I guess that the founders made that rule so no one would accidentally find it."

"I did hear that there are a lot of dangerous creatures in that forest Brad," Jacke said.

"Well, I guess they must've brought creatures or let creatures inhabit the forest so it would make a good cover."

"Good guess Brad," Tyler said slapping his shoulder. "If the founders did go through all this like you guess then that must mean that the potion really does exist there," he finished with his eyes pointing over at Reggie.

"Even if this does exist, you could bet it isn't easy to get. Didn't you listen to the reading? It sounded like even the founders had a hard time getting it and almost didn't succeed. There must be obstacles after the portal. How would we stand a chance if the founders barely could?" Reggie resumed.

"Come on Reggie. Have a bit more faith in us would you. We've done so much already together like mastering our powers and even stopping Arnold. We are the seekers. Don't forget our motto, "We always find a way." So we'll find the way now, we always do." Brad countered really inspired Jacke and Tyler even more.

"Ok, but even if we succeed in getting this Potion of Fecundity, what do we do with it?" Reggie asked in a tired victorious voice.

All four of them bowed their heads down in thought. Reggie really did bring up a very good point that they couldn't ignore or counter. What would they do with it? A powerful magic potion that would let them create and shape the land. How would that help them?

Brad looked at each of them. He saw they were having a real hard time with this. He had an idea but he was scared that they might think it was a waste of the potion to try it.

Jacke didn't have a clue on what they should do. What would they use a power this strong to do?

Reggie wasn't really thinking on what to do with this kind of power. More like if it was right for using this power. They were going to mess with the laws of nature and reality and he doubted that they could handle that like the founders did.

Tyler also wasn't thinking on what exactly do they create. He was thinking that there was a reason why they found this.

'This cannot be a coincidence. A thousand years ago, my ancestor and the other three of the Hogwarts Four found and used this potion and now a millennium later a slytherin, gryffindor, hufflepuff and ravenclaw find it. I'm sure if they were here now they would have a serious feeling of dejavu.'

"You know what mates," Tyler said suddenly. "Let's leave it off for now. We don't have to decide right here and now. Let's leave this alone for about a month. That'll give us plenty of time to think this through. What do you say? Agreed?"

"I guess that's the most logical thing to do," Reggie said.

"Sounds good to me," Brad said.

"Great, and you Jacke?"

"Er...alright, I can barely think straight as it is," he said with unfocused eyes.

At Jacke's words, Reggie immediately went to his watch. "Oh no, we really lost track of time coming down here. It's already a quarter to midnight."

"What?!" they all shouted.

"Yeah, wow time sure does fly when you're having an adventure."

'Yep, I think Reggie is starting to lighten up,' Tyler thought proudly. 'He would've immediately said something about the rules instead of making the joke.'

"Now why don't we get going? We don't want the prefects catching us out after curfew or we'll get detention."

'Well, it's a start'

They left the secret storerooms and Tyler went to seal Basil up before they left the chamber, which Tyler also sealed. They ran over to the rope leading back to the second floor bathroom.

"How do we work this rope again?" Brad asked as he was the first to get to it.

"Pull three times," Tyler answered bringing up the rear.

Brad pulled on the rope three times and he was tugged straight up the pipe and landed back at the second floor bathroom. He threw the rope back down and Reggie, Jacke and Tyler had the repeated experience of landing on the bathroom floor.

"I think I'm going to have to think of a new way of coming up here," Tyler said picking himself up. He turned to the sinks and muttered, "Close" in parseltongue sealing up the entrance.

Reggie peeked out through the door checking for any prefects or teachers on patrol.

"We're in luck, there isn't anyone around. Good night."

He waved them a farewell and then ran down the hall for the Ravenclaw common room. Brad went next and headed for the first floor for the Hufflepuff common room. Tyler and Jacke went together since the path to their common rooms was the same up to the main staircase.

"Tyler," Jacke said quietly down the corridor as they stepped cautiously as not to make a loud sound. "Why were you so scared about showing us the chamber? You know that we know who you are so why did you panic?"

"Jacke," he said turning to him. "I wasn't scared. It's just that I felt like it was a little personal thing that I had to take care of. It was family business."

"Oh...sorry for jumping into it."

"No, no, I'm actually glad that you guys are with me on this. You see, when I went there yesterday, I had to face up to everything alone. I mean going alone to a secret chamber; my dark ancestor built was a little lonely and hard. Not to mention a tad bit scary. I was a little angry that you stuck your noses in my business but I'm glad that I have helping in finding answers."

"Answers?"

"Yeah, but that's a little too private in my family to tell you." Tyler said referring to his family prophecy of himself. He wanted to know exactly what he was supposed to do. He knew that people who were destined to accomplish things in old and mystical prophecies often resented it but this was actually something he wanted to do. He wanted to end all the hiding his people had to do. He had experienced it every second of his life and he didn't want any of his future descendents

Jacke looked at his best friend going into his usual silent thinking stance. Jacke decided to cheer Tyler up. "It's okay, I won't push, we've done too much of that. That chamber needs to be cleaned up," Jacke said lightening up the solemn mood.

"Should be. I mean no one has gone to it for a thousand years except 35 years ago except us," Tyler said jokingly.

"Thirty five years ago? Did your dad open it or something?"

"Oh," he said slapping his head for his slip. "No...err might as well tell you. Basil told me that my cousin opened it. Tom Riddle."

"Oh," he said with realization coming across his face. "Voldemort huh?"

"Yeah. He misused the basilisk. Basil told me that my ancestor commanded him to completely obey those of his bloodline no matter what so Basil had no choice but to do what he wanted. My cousin used him to go around and attack the muggleborns that were in the school at that time just like in that story Brad read to us."

Jacke sensing his best friend going into his solemn depression stage put his hand on his shoulder the way a friend would. Tyler then turned and looked straight at him, which Jacke used as a signal to speak.

"Honestly, Tyler, you've got to stop blaming yourself for what your cousin does. This isn't any of your fault mate. This happened even before you were born. Come on."

"Thanks," was all Tyler managed to say at Jacke's words. They were simple but powerful. He was right. How could he expect to control what happened years before he was born? 'It seems like I do keep blaming myself for everything. I guess it's all because of the prophecy. Maybe I see why people in prophecies wish they weren't.'

They soon got to the staircase where they had to separate. Tyler had to go down to the Slytherin dungeons while Jacke went up to Gryffindor Tower.

(---)

The time after the discovery of the creation of Hogwarts went by very uneventfully. Tyler didn't give the Potion of Fecundity another thought during the rest of the week. The only thing that Tyler was interested in was the very first class with Professor Squall since he was curious about how he would teach them and what he would teach them.

The Slytherins were all seated in the Defense classroom waiting for Professor Squall to arrive. Tyler was sitting with Matt and Morgan on either side, in the center of the classroom to see where would be the best place to not have a hard time with the teacher depending on how he was. They were all talking about random subjects until the doors opened and Professor Squall stepped in.

"Hello, third years. I am Professor Squall. Just sit quietly while I take the roll call."

He picked up the sheet of parchment and began calling out names and get a good look at everyone right after he called a name so he could fix their faces in his mind, obviously. Then Tyler thought the strangest thing happened when Squall got to his name.

"Tyler...Solemn?"

"Right here," he said raising his arm half-heartingly.

Professor Squall looked at Tyler like he was someone he hadn't seen for years before he seemed to remember he had a roll call to finish.

'What was that about?' Tyler thought. 'He's acting just like Arnold did when he was trying to remember where he'd seen my face before,' he reminisced bitterly at the memory although he also noticed that Squall didn't give off the same creepy feeling in his stomach as Arnold's behavior had done. 'Maybe I'm becoming too paranoid with how I always have to be alert and secretive.'

"Okay," Squall said after he was done. "Now, to tell you a little of myself before we get on with the first lesson today. I happen to be an auror at the Ministry of Magic."

This caused some eye raising at the skills this wizard teacher would be able to show them. However, Tyler went into a dark, cold feeling of dejavu.

'Great, another wizard hunter type teacher.'

"I'm taking a year's leave of absence for teaching you all and then I'm back off to my work."

"Why did you leave for a year?" asked Matt.

"Oh, I owed the Headmaster a favor for introducing me to my training mentor whose helped me in many ways. There weren't any applicants so I came to fulfill the position until next term."

"It's the curse I tell ya," Matt mumbled to Morgan and himself which made them both smile in amusement.

"I studied over what you did last term and saw that you learned basic dueling spells. This term, you will learn about magical creatures that you should know how to defend yourself against. Okay, I'm sure you all want to get started and not listen to a teacher talk about himself all day so let's go," Squall said making smiles appear all over the room. "All right, the first thing I want to ask you all is how many of you know what a Sphinx is?"

There were about four hands in the air, which were those of Matt, Alex Nott, Selma Rowens, and Anita Oarlock. Tyler never heard of these creatures before.

"Hmm...four huh?" continued Arnold. "Well...Mr. Carroway, could you please tell us a fact about sphinxes for the rest of the class please?"

"Well, a sphinx looks like a lion with a human type face and has wings. They like to ask riddles to anybody who comes in their path."

"Excellent, five points to Slytherin. Now I'm going to give you a riddle, which is very like one that a sphinx would give you. You have the rest of the class to come up with the answer. For a bonus, anyone who can come up with an answer won't have homework tonight. You can work alone or with one or more people if you wish. I will be available for questions, if you have any then please don't hesitate to raise your hand."

Professor Squall handed out parchments with the same riddle for everyone to solve. Immediately everyone went into talking on solving the riddle or just regular passing conversation.

Before Tyler could look at the riddle on his parchment, Matt tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Tyler, Professor Squall seems like he'll be a great teacher, huh?"

"Yeah, I kind of like his laid back sort of thing," he answered. 'Also, he doesn't give me a creepy feeling like Arnold did last year,' he thought relieved. "Morgan, what do you think of him so far?"

"I like his style too. He seems to really know how to keep our attention. I think he'll be an even greater teacher than Arnold was."

Tyler didn't want to comment on that because he bitterly knew that she was right. Arnold might have been a power and glory hunting loony git but he did teach some pretty decent stuff to them last year.

"Yeah, well, obviously that's not a matter we have to deal with now. As Matt said, there's a curse."

Matt did a spooky wind sound, which caused Tyler to smirk and Morgan to shake her head but Tyler was sure she rolled her eyes under her closed eyelids. Tyler looked to his parchment to see the riddle for the very first time.

_What is the at the beginning of every end,_

_at the end of time and space,_

_at the beginning of eternity,_

_and the end of every place?_

"Wow, this sure is a tough riddle," Tyler said after he finished reading it.

"Yeah, I can't think of anything that can be all over time," Morgan said putting her hands to her temple thinking."

"I think I have an idea." Matt announced proudly to them.

"You do?" asked Morgan and Tyler. "What?"

"Not telling."

This made them both suck their teeth at Matt's refusal to share.

"No sharing huh?" came a voice in back of them which made Tyler throw his arms on the table and swing around. Professor Squall was behind them with his arms behind him looking down at them with a neutral face. "Having trouble trying to solve the riddle?"

"Yeah, a little."

"Don't worry. Some can be a little tricky. I'm sure that you slytherins can appreciate that right? You'll get there," he said with a knowing smile.

"Yeah, I guess."

He nodded his head and walked off to the other students. Tyler kept his eyes on Squall. He really seemed like a friendly guy and sociable guy.

'He's a good change from Professor Arnold and Professor Gellman were,' he thought proudly.

Tyler noticed a little shiver jolt coming from his hand and looked to see that when Squall surprised them, he had put his hand over Morgan's.

"Oh sorry Morgan."

"Er...yeah."

Tyler saw that she was a little red in the face. "Did I hurt you or something?"

"Oh no, you didn't, don't worry about it," she said a little too quickly for Tyler to barely get all of it.

Before he could think more of Morgan's behavior, Professor Squall readdressed the class.

"Okay, did anyone have any luck solving the riddle?"

Tyler saw that Matt's hand went up and so did the hand of a girl who he remembered was called Estelle Barrett. Professor Squall collected both their parchments and looked over them.

"Well, it seems that both Ms. Barrett and Mr. Carroway are correct. I give twenty points to Slytherin. As a reward for correctly solving the riddle, you two won't have to do this meeting's homework. Would any of you two like to tell the answer to the class?"

Matt raised his hand and narrowed his eyes at Tyler as if to say, "Listen and Learn," which Tyler rolled his eyes at his friend's pompous attitude.

"It was the letter E."

"Yes Mr. Carroway. E is at the beginning of the word end, the end letter of time and space, the beginning of the word eternity and the end of place. Very good. Five more points to Slytherin."

The rest of the class including Morgan and Tyler shook their heads at the simple yet tricky answer and laughed at how it was literally written out for them.

"The homework for the rest of you is to look in your textbook and read the chapter about sphinxes. Then you must draw me a picture of one, one that is not traced over. We'll go over what to do when you come across one in our next meeting. Class dismissed."

Tyler took off with Morgan and Matt for Potions with smiles on their faces.

Professor Squall's taught them for one day and he's already their best teacher yet.

Just as Tyler thought that, pretty much everyone in their entire year thought that he was the best yet including Jacke, Reggie and Brad.

(---)

**End of Chapter 8**

Author Notes:

Well, what do you guys think of Professor Squall. His personality and popularity was inspired by a college professor of mine who everyone likes.

Also, I would like to say that I've noticed that my updates are getting wider than normal. That would be because I'm trying to get my work for college through so please forgive. Don't worry because I won't ever forget about updating when I get the chance since I know how too long updates can get on people's nerves.

Review.


	9. New Players

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 9: New Players

Tyler knew that he should start to come up with ideas for what to do with the Potion of Fecundity but he was lacking the time to do that. He had his mind on other things. September was vastly coming to an end and October was right around the corner.

Classes were coming along quite nicely. Defense Against the Dark Arts was becoming a very relaxing environment for all the third years. Professor Squall used visual aids for speaking of creatures and always knew just how to keep their attention when giving lectures on the subject. He talked to them all as if it was a club meeting and he was their fun head.

In the slytherin common rooms one day, Tyler, Morgan and Matt were talking to Regulus about what they thought of him while they were doing one of his homework assignments about Grindylows, which were reptilians that lived in swampy areas. Regulus was sitting by them reading a book of curses.

"I tell you Regulus, Professor Squall is the absolute best teacher," Tyler said proudly.

"Yeah, when he talks, we actually listen. It doesn't sound like waffle," Matt added.

"I can see you guys really like him. I think he's okay. Some of the older slytherins say that he doesn't know how to act like a teacher though which I sort of agree with a little."

"What?" Tyler, Matt and Morgan said openmouthed.

"Don't get me wrong, he's a good teacher," he said quickly to his young friends with his hands up. "It's just that...well for me anyways, I'm not used to that kind of teaching. I'm pretty much used to authority kind of teaching at this stage. It is a nice change but I think it'll take time for me to adjust. That's just me of course."

"Come on Regulus."

"Forget it Tyler. Let's talk about something a little less worthy of arguing about, all right?"

"All right," Tyler said knowing that the topic was indeed over.

"How about the fact that there's supposed to be tryouts for a new chaser and beater for the house team now that Captain Oakmire and Jeffrey Dellen left. I'm actually really glad and I think the rest of the team is too that Oakmire's gone. He really was a pushy leader and I hope our new one picked up on that and won't become an Oakmire wannabe."

"Oh, about Oakmire," Morgan said. "Tyler? Whose the new captain of the team?"

"Oh, yeah, Professor Reckler called the rest of us to his office and told us that Patrick Tanner, the other beater was made captain."

"Patrick Tanner huh?" Regulus said with a smirk. "This'll be a funny sight. He was always gloating about how he would be a great almighty leader before you guys came to Hogwarts. I can't wait to see if he could finally back that up or just shut up."

This made the four of them make stifling laughs until Tyler begun the trail of talking again.

"If he doesn't then there'll be a great cure coming next year since this is his last year here before he has to leave the school. So, any of you guys thinking of trying out. They're next Thursday."

"Well, you know me. I like playing quidditch but I don't really fancy playing it myself. How can I enjoy it when I'm part of it," Matt said returning his eyes back to the homework he was completing.

"Me, I don't really think I have the flying talent to be a decent player," Regulus said turning the page of the book he was reading.

"Come on, it would be great if you were on the team Regulus. What about you Morgan? Don't you agree?" he said turning to her while she was looking in his direction.

"Huh?" she said like she was in a daze.

"I said if you are thinking of Regulus being good for the team? You okay?"

"Err...yeah, I just have to go to the toilet."

She picked up her stuff and headed for the girls dormitories. Tyler caught sight of Regulus looking from his book with a smirking smile and teasing eyes directed right at Tyler.

"What? What is it?"

"Oh nothing. You have to discover it."

"Discover what?"

"Nope, it's got to be on your own."

"What? What is it Regulus?" Tyler said annoyed that Regulus seemed to be teasing him and he didn't even know why.

Regulus didn't answer this time but instead put the book in front of his face and ignored Tyler's protests until Tyler finally gave up and went back to finishing his essay for Professor Squall.

(---)

The Seekers were in gathered in the library the following day on a circular table comparing Astronomy notes and finishing left off homework.

"Tyler, I hear there's going to be quidditch tryouts for your house Thursday."

"How did you know that Jacke?"

"Sarah Thompson tried to arrange a practice on that day to train our new beaters and chaser but Tanner beat her too it and took a little bit of pleasure of announcing it to her I guess from the way she sounded when she told the rest of us."

"Well, you've got to admit that we need it. Our team is the only one that hasn't had tryouts yet. Oh, your teams all got new players, who are they?"

"Oh, let's see, the two new beaters are the twins Gideon and Fabian Prewitt in sixth year and the new chaser is Max Longhorn from second year. He's got real good potential and I've been giving him flying tips on avoiding the bludgers during our practices. He's turning out to be a good friend."

"That's great Jacke. As long as you don't give him your luck in getting close shaves with those bludgers," Tyler said smirking.

"Ha Ha, very funny Tyler," he said with extreme sarcasm.

This noise caused Madam Pince to shush them to be quiet or they would be thrown out.

"Jacke, Tyler," Reggie said through clenched teeth. "Must the two of you always talk so loudly?"

"Honestly, relax Reggie," Jacke said turning back to his paper.

"Yeah, we're sorry," Tyler whispered.

"Good."

"Anyway, what about your team Brad?" Tyler asked going back to the topic.

"Well, we needed a new chaser. Hawkster Jones in my year made it on that spot."

"That's great Brad," Reggie said. "I mean, you already told me that you two started hanging out more ever since you two fought in the tournament last year."

"Yeah, now we going to be playing together instead of fighting each other," Brad said chuckling behind his smile. "What of your team Reggie? New Recruits?"

"The team needed a new keeper now that Doris Crockford left last term. We got Cody Stevens. He's in second year."

"Hey guys, did any of you put any thought into the Potion of Fecundity?" Brad asked suddenly.

Tyler turned to look at Jacke and Reggie. Why did Brad change the subject just like that to something so serious?

"Brad, why did you ask that now?" Reggie asked.

"I've thought about it every I wasn't doing anything and I think I have a good idea what to do," he said in a tone like he had rehearsed this.

"Well, whatever it is I already know it's better than my idea," Jacke said with formality.

"And how would you know that?" Tyler asked his friend.

"Because I haven't thought of any."

This made Tyler snort in trying to cover up his laughter threatening to come out in the library. "Same here."

"Well to be honest, I wasn't thinking of what to do with the potion but studying on spells and other useful things I think would prove useful for going to get it since we have absolutely no clue what's guarding it."

"If any," Tyler said.

"Yeah, but let's hear what Brad has to say. Go ahead and tell us your idea."

"Thanks Jacke," Brad said gratefully. "Okay, when I heard of this potion's power to create and/or shape reality, I started thinking on what we need the most. After I gave all of us that motivation, I came up with a good idea. What about a new training ground? We lost our old one where we were training our elemental powers and animal transformations and it was starting to get small even if it were still around. This time we'll make one so big and secluded that we won't have to worry about it being destroyed by cave ins or something."

Tyler, Jacke and Reggie thought on Brad's proposal.

'Yes, why not make a new training ground?'

"If you guys think that its stupid then we could just forget it and come up with something else."

"No Brad," Tyler said putting his hand over Brad's shoulder very easily since he was sitting to his right while Jacke was sitting to his left and Reggie right across from him. "I think it's a good idea. A place just for us completely. Training ourselves in complete solitude, safe from prying eyes."

"When you put it that way then I can't say no," Reggie said. "Brad, you're a genius."

"Coming from you mate, I'll take that as a honor more than a compliment. Jacke? What about you?"

"Well, it does sound good but it doesn't sound really big enough for this kind of power."

"No, we can make this work for everyone," Reggie said cutting Jacke off. "The founders shaped this school and grounds from all four of their plans. We could build a place that would suit us all."

"Wow, I didn't consider that. Okay then, I'm convinced."

"Great. It's done. We'll make our own private place unlike any other where we could train and hang around," Tyler announced like a council's decision.

"But where and how are we going to do this?" Reggie asked getting back to his logical point of view. "We'll need to actually find an area and plan this whole thing out."

"Relax Reggie. We don't even have the potion yet. Calm down," Jacke said clutching his breath to get Reggie to calm himself down.

"So what do we do?" Brad said backing his friend up.

"How about this," Tyler started. "We'll take a few months to plan out what we're going to actually put into this place. Also, we could take that time to train ourselves and prepare for whatever is in that gateway to the Fecundity Potion. Also, I'll go back to the chamber another day and get my ancestor's journal. Maybe he wrote exactly what they did when before actually using it."

"I'm impressed Tyler. That's actually a very well formulated plan," Reggie said with a look of astonishment.

"Hey, give me more credit than that."

(---)

It was the following Thursday and Tyler was putting on his quidditch robes to be with the rest of the Slytherin Quidditch team for the tryouts. Tyler took that time to remember his own tryouts last year. He was so nervous but Regulus, Matt, Jacke, Reggie and Brad were there to give him the confidence and support he needed. He hoped that however was fortunate to get the spots would be just as fortunate as he was.

The 7th year captain and remaining beater Patrick Tanner was there in a state that told Tyler that he was waiting for his team to be all there. He saw the two other chasers 6th year Andrew Crump and 5th year Magnus Gansley standing there with hard looks on their faces. The 5th year keeper Russell Mefist was there also with a quaffle under his arm and a smug look on his face.

"What kept you Solemn," Tanner said rather rudely. "The rest of us have been out already for almost two minutes. We were about to call out the start for the ones trying for chaser. Be faster next time or I'll make you fly laps around the entire school grounds from dawn to dusk. We need you here to help test the people trying out."

Tyler refrained from responding. The truth was that he really didn't need to be here that quickly. As the seeker on the team, he couldn't possibly assist in any way of testing the talents for chaser. 'Unless, he's hoping the trainees for beater would finish me off with a bludger.'

Tyler wasn't to well liked among most of the slytherins, especially the real older ones ever since it got to them that he defended his Gryffindor friend Jacke from an older slytherin bullying him in their first year. Tanner was obviously part of the group that didn't like him even though he won Slytherin quite a few matches and even got far in the second year dueling tournament. In fact, the only older slytherins that did seem to like him, meaning that they didn't glare or scowl at his presence, were Severus and Regulus.

"All right," Tanner said raising his voice. "We got five people looking to be chaser and three looking to be the beater. We'll start with the chaser tryouts first. Gansley, Crump and Mefist will be testing you on your abilities."

Tyler lost focus after that bit and Tanner's voice drowned out of his mind as it began to wander out of boredom of just sitting and staring at Tanner lecture.

'I don't know whose the bigger git now. Tanner or Oakmire,' he thought bitterly.

Tyler was completely tuned out until he saw a familiar face come up next for the trials. It was the slytherin second year he met at the welcome feast.

"Samuel Baddock!" Tanner shouted from the list of trainees.

When Samuel Baddock caught Tyler's eye he gave him a wave before he mounted his broom. Tyler thought Samuel was pretty good. He managed to avoid Gansley from taking the quaffle until Crump blocked his way allowing Gansley to take it. Next, he was tested on getting the quaffle from Crump with Gansley helping him making it harder for him to get close enough to Crump to try and take it. The final test was to see how many times out of ten tries can he try and get the quaffle past Mefist. Tyler cheered Samuel on as he went and darted like crazy trying to confuse Mefist and scoring. He managed 7 out of ten tries getting past Mefist and scoring. Then Tanner called him down to have the next person go.

Tyler went over to Baddock and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around looking a little tense and was sweating a little but went and shook Tyler's hand.

"Hey, it's me Tyler Solemn remember? You're Samuel Baddock right?"

"Oh I remember you Solemn but I hate it when people use my whole name. Call me Sam."

"Sam it is, only if you call me Tyler."

"Okay."

"You were really good. I must say I think you've got a real shot."

"You really think so?" Sam asked in a tone that he had his doubts.

"Come on, have more confidence than that. You have great flying skills and I can see great potential in your goal scoring moves. I have a feeling that you'll be picked. If not then I think we may need a new captain."

This seemed to make Sam calm down as he let a small smile escape him.

Soon after, the chaser tryouts had ended. Tanner was talking with Mefist, Gansley and Crump on who they thought was the best choice. They didn't even bother to include him but Tyler was hardly affected by it. Tyler caught a few of the words they were saying but they didn't really make that much sense to him.

"Alright, we have checked it over and we've decided who will be our new chaser," Tanner started.

Tyler saw Sam cross his fingers and Tyler absentmindedly crossed his too. It would be nice to have a friendly face in the team.

"Our new chaser is none other than Samuel Baddock. His flying is exactly what we need to crush our opponents."

There was scattered clapping among the ones that failed to get the spot for chaser. Tyler and even the other members of the team were clapping at Sam's success.

"All right then, we'll start the tryouts for beaters. Hopefully, we'll have a good technique behind you lot since I see only two people are here for that position."

Tyler looked over to see who was trying out. He froze on the sight of the two people there. One of them, he recognized as the same slytherin who had bullied Jacke on the day when he first met Regulus. He had a dark look in his eyes and seemed very unfriendly. The other person trying out was none other than Morgan.

'Why is Morgan here? She didn't tell me that she was trying out. Does she really expect a spot on the team? And to add to this, it's that first rate git that jinxed Jacke in front of me during our first year. I hope he misses with the bat and the bludgers collides with his face.'

"Okay, Solemn!" Tanner shouted over to him snapping him out of his shock at seeing them there. "Fly up there. You're pretty fast so you're the perfect one to test their skills at batting the bludgers."

Tyler groaned inwardly and mounted his Silver Arrow broomstick and took off in the sky. He heard Tanner call off the first name of the two trainees.

"Rebastian Lestrange! You're up first."

When Lestrange flew up to meet with Tyler he narrowed in eyes of deep anger and hatred toward Tyler. Tyler flinched inwardly and just looked down over at the quidditch ball box in anger. Tanner and Gansley were at the box getting ready a bludger to let it loose. Tyler looked up and saw that Lestrange had the bat in his hand and kept slapping it in his opposite hand showing that he was ready and looking forward to this. He suddenly heard a whistling in the air that was growing louder which meant the bludger was getting closer to them.

Tyler began to move defensively as Lestrange batted the bludger whenever it got close to him. He always seemed to aim right at Tyler's head but luckily was able to dodge them without colliding with a bludger. He just flew back a little and zoomed down close to the floor and tricked the bludger to always hit the floor and sink a little. Every time Tyler escaped, he saw that Lestrange was getting even angrier as the time went on since he kept missing him. Tyler had a feeling that it wasn't because he was making him look bad but because he just couldn't get a shot.

After about six minutes of this, Tanner blew the whistle. "All right, let's have our next trainee try. Morgan Stellers, you're up!"

Morgan mounted on a Comet Two Hundred and took off to where Tyler was while Lestrange flew down cursing every second.

"Hey Morgan, what are you doing here? I didn't know you wanted to tryout."

"Well, I always fancied playing this game since you always talk about it being so fantastic so I decided to try it."

"I'm flattered you took my play by plays so seriously but seriously, I never saw you as the playing type."

Then all of the sudden, Morgan's face went from neutral to downright angry. "What does that mean?" she said through clenched teeth.

"Well, err...you don't look like a danger type of girl. Quidditch can be a bit tough and I don't think that someone like you can handle it," he answered honestly.

Morgan's eyes then had such a fire to them that Tyler gulped and started to drift away from Morgan's stare. He saw that she was gripping her bat a little too tightly and seemed completely ready for the bludger that Tanner and Gansley were about to release.

The bludger shot up and Morgan began her attack. Tyler heard her scream every time she had her bat connect with the bludger. The bludger headed for Tyler but what was even more shocking was that Morgan was following it right behind with her bat ready to hit again and Tyler was doubting it was the bludger again. Tyler was so surprised in her form that he didn't have full attention on the bludger and almost got hit with it. Morgan then caught up with the bludger before it could get too far from Tyler and hit it towards him again, hard.

'Girls and their tempers,' Tyler thought as he tried to avoid the upcoming bludger and Morgan.

Morgan swung her bat whenever she was close to Tyler and made sure the bludger was on Tyler's tail every second. Tyler felt it brush over him about five times and got scared when it glazed his left side.

Tyler would've never thought that he would be glad for Tanner to blow down that whistle and yell for Tyler to get down over to them.

"Okay Solemn," he started. "Which one did you have to most trouble with Rebastian Lestrange or Morgan Stellers?"

Tyler knew that if Tanner knew that he and Morgan were friends then he wouldn't pick her so he tried to make her sound like an annoying girl which wasn't so hard since he was a little annoyed and scared of her right now.

"Stellers had me going there for a while, I could barely get away. Lestrange had good physical power behind those bludgers too. I don't really know who would be better."

"Hmm, what do you think Tanner? After all, you are the other beater," said Mefist.

"Well, Lestrange does have the power we need on our team especially since he's in seventh year like me so you know together him and I would be formidable," started Tanner, which made Tyler's insides grow cold. "But...that third year, Stellers, has great style. She didn't wait for the bludger to miss or hit her target at all. She was on Solemn like a Permanent Sticking Charm. Also, she wasn't afraid to be near that bludger at all, when Lestrange only waited for it to come to him before he always sent it over to Solemn but he always sent them hard every time. Hmm...all those in favor for Lestrange, raise your hands."

Mefist raised his hand and so did Crump.

"In favor for Stellers."

Tanner raised his hand, as did Gansley. Tyler did it half-heartingly so not to draw attention.

"Okay!" Tanner yelled over to the two of them. "You two were very good but we could sadly only have one of you," Tanner said in a tone that was anything but sad. "We've chosen you Morgan Stellers."

The team clapped her victory and she was beaming. Everyone at the pitch started to walk away while the team and Tyler went to the changing rooms to change into their regular clothes. Tyler was feeling a little tired from the relentless dodging he did and was the last one to leave the changing rooms. When he stepped out with his bag, he saw Morgan right at the entrance. She looked very grumpy.

"Well, I think that you have something to say to me," she huffed.

"What?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about...Sorry?!"

"Sorry? For what?"

"You think that just because I'm a girl that I couldn't make the team right?"

"No, I just thought that you weren't the type. That's all," Tyler said raising his voice a little.

"Well, I guess I just proved you wrong. Why? Why didn't I look like the type of girl?" Morgan said raising her voice a little more over Tyler's.

"Because...I don't know," he said in a low voice.

"Well that's...you don't know?" she said looking at him strangely. Then all of the sudden she just started laughing and Tyler joined in.

"I guess I was wrong. You had me pretty worried with those bludgers attacks and with your attempts to hit me on the head." Tyler and Morgan started to walk back up to the castle for the common room.

"Well, could you blame me? I was angry that you didn't think I was good enough. Just be glad I worked my stress in hitting that bludger. I kept imagining it was your head."

"Oh yeah, I'm glad to hear that," he said that pretending to wipe sweat from his head. "I just hope you have that same intensity during our games. It'll be great to be alongside you and Sam every game from now on."

"Sam?" she said a little confused.

"Oh, the guy who made chaser today. Samuel Baddock."

"Oh, is he a new friend of yours?"

"Err...yeah, I guess he is. Well, I just hope you two will be ready for our first game against Gryffindor in two weeks. I've been meaning for a rematch with Jacke to even the score."

"Even the score?" she asked curiously. "On what?"

"Oh just a little competition me and him do. So far, it's Jacke with 2 victories and me 1. Anyway, come on. I'm sure you want to tell Matt and Regulus who the new beater is huh?"

When they got back to the common room, Matt had a hard time believing that Tyler and Morgan were telling the truth about Morgan making the team and was laughing about it under his mouth, which thankfully only Tyler caught instead of Morgan. Regulus gave the same smile as last week that was teasing and that he read as "I know something you don't."

(---)

**End of Chapter 9**

SwollenFridge: It's great to hear from you again. Really missed you.

Author Notes:

Well, there you have it. Both Morgan Stellers and Tyler's newest slytherin friend Samuel Baddock have made it on the team. I thought that Tyler should have a few friendly faces playing with him instead of the all older ones that don't like him very much. Also, what is with Regulus? Only I know but try to guess what he sees that Tyler doesn't. Also, Brad's plan was excepted. Make a place of their own where they could train and stuff. I'll give you a little sneak peek on it a little later. It looks a whole lot bigger than it sounds, believe me!

Review.


	10. New Blood Mixed with Old

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 10: New Blood Mixed with Old

With Morgan and Tyler's new friend Sam on the team, Tyler was suddenly extra motivated in training. He was sharper and faster then he ever was on his broom and became almost possessed on his pursuits of the golden snitch. He was also much better at avoiding bludgers now since Morgan was such a very good shot. She was very forceful when it came to whacking the bludgers. Sam was still in the rookie stages in being able to keep hold of the quaffle against steal attempts but Tyler was confident that that would improve over time.

(---)

Jacke was also training hard on his team as well. With his new friend and fellow teammate Max Longhorn, they were making progress.

"Do you think I'll do great in the match on Saturday?" asked Max one day after a practice.

"Why do you ask that? You have a lot of talent Max."

"I know Jacke, it's just that two out of the three chasers are all bigger and older than I am. It just scares me a little."

"It's okay Max. I remember my first game. I was in second year just like you and all the Slytherins were much bigger than me with the exception of my best mate Tyler. But, when you're playing with friends involved then you'll do better than if you weren't."

"Oh right, you're friends with the seeker on the Slytherin team. Tyler Solemn."

"Is that a problem?" Jacke asked neutrally.

"Well...no, it's just a little strange, that's all."

"Hey Max, do you mind if I ask a personal question?"

"Well...it depends," he said in a tone that it looked like he tried to lighten the mood but it came out weakly.

"How many friends did you actually make since you've been here?"

"Er...to be honest, you're really the first one. I was pretty much alone until I tried out for chaser."

"Didn't you have anyone before you came to Hogwarts or try to make any friends?"

"I'm kind of shy to tell you the truth. You're really the first one that I really talk to other than my mother."

"Why? What happened to your dad?"

"He...died. You-Know-Who's followers killed him when I was about eight years old."

"Oh, sorry."

Jacke thought that that was probably the main reason that caused Max to be secluding himself. He himself didn't know that kind of feeling in which someone loses one of their parents so he didn't know how to react. He just said the first thing that came to his mind and hoped to Merlin himself that it was the right thing to say.

"Well, why did you join the team then?"

"Well, my mom and I had a little talk before the school year started and she said to do something that would get me included with people because she said being alone was unhealthy."

"Well, I must say that I'm glad that you did. It's really nice to have at least two friends in my own house."

"Jacke, is it okay if I ask you a question now?"

"Err...okay, depending on what it is of course," I said stealing his line and he looked at me like I took something valuable. "What, you're not the only one allowed to say that."

He laughed a little at this and then looked at me straight in the eye. "Why are you and that slytherin friends?, If you don't mind answering that? I heard all the time that you were a real oddball and a no good house traitor, no offense," he added quickly.

'Out of all the questions I thought he might ask, I wasn't predicting that one. It is easy to answer and something that I wouldn't mind sharing with a new friend.'

"Well, that's easy to answer and I really don't mind answering that one. It's because he's my friend and I'm his friend just like any two friends are, best friends in fact."

"But why? I mean, you're in Gryffindor and he's in Slytherin. How did you guys become friends when you two are in different houses?"

"Well, it's really because we met before we were even sorted. You see, Tyler and I met on the train ride here with Reggie and Brad, from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and we all became friends from then on. We really got along well and especially me and Tyler. We were a little surprised when all four of us were separated completely. Believe me when I say that I was shocked when Tyler was put into Slytherin, which I really understand why now but that's beside the point. I saw that even though he was put into slytherin, he didn't instantly turn into a git just like how I thought all slytherins were. He was the same guy I became friends with and we've stayed close ever since even though it's not easy sometimes."

"Wow...that's kind of cool. I mean, the two of you staying friends even though you're in the two houses that hate and fight all the time. I really thought that all slytherins are just Death Eater types in waiting but the way you talk about you and Solemn, I probably might've done the same thing."

"You see? I've kind of learned that there are more to slytherins then what meets the eye. Bloody hell, I've even become friends with two more of them over the time...well more one than the other one; we're in the neutral stage."

"Who?"

"Oh, Regulus Black from sixth year and the one where I'm neutral with is Morgan Stellers in my year. Actually, Regulus Black is turning out to be a very good friend that I respect very much. You could say that he's the sticking charm that's been keeping us together all this time."

"Whoa...there's more to this than I thought. I...err...heard people say that," Max started to say a little hesitantly.

"Yeah I know," Jacke interrupted. "They think I might've been bewitched or threatened or something like that. Jennifer Gardner told me that already."

"Oh sorry."

"It's okay, I don't care," he said shrugging it off. "Why don't we forget about that now and talk about something else."

And they did. They talked about quidditch, their families and also a little on who they thought were the prettiest girls with Jacke leaving out a certain someone he started to have his eyes on as of late.

(---)

Tyler was in bed; sound asleep when Matt started to shake him to wake up.

"Tyler," he distinctly heard his voice call. "Come on, wake up sleepy head. It's the day of the first match. Come on, get up so we could get breakfast."

Tyler eyes sprang open at the mention of the match and he got out of bed and changed his clothes and followed Matt out of the dormitory. On their way to the entrance hole, they spotted a group around the notice board and saw Morgan among them.

"I wonder what's so special?" Matt asked voicing Tyler's inside question.

"Let's go see."

They moved in and tried to see through the sea of people in front of the notice board. Tyler recommended that Matt go in front of him since he was a bit taller than him but that didn't really help. After about four minutes of pushing and prying through the group, the two slytherin third years just gave up and decided that they'll see what was so important later. They were getting hungry and Tyler needed to eat something so he wouldn't be in the match on an empty stomach.

He and Matt made it to the Great Hall and immediately started to eat their food. They started so quickly that they grabbed their forks before they even stopped moving as they fell into their seats. After a few seconds, they were joined by Morgan.

"Wow, two people here sure are hungry."

"Give us a break Morgan," Matt started to complain.

"Yeah, we have a match later today. I need the energy."

"Then what's your excuse?" she asked directing her eyes to Matt.

"I'm just hungry. Not a crime right? I just didn't eat enough last night and I have to make up for it. Besides, why aren't you eating? Like Tyler said, you're in the match, so you need energy for it too."

"I don't feel like eating, I think I would show the entire school what I ate if I do before the match."

"Morgan, you'll do fine. I'm not worried the least bit about you. I'm really more worried about the bludgers and all the people that you are going to hit with them more. You had me clutching my broom hard, almost snapping it, when you tried to get me during all the practices."

"Yeah, Tyler's right. I was there. It's the gryffindors I'm worried about and I'm not worried about them in the slightest so I'm more confident in you hitting them off your brooms and I'll cheer you hard when you do that."

Morgan blushed a little at the compliments and Tyler was glad that they got her mind off the impending game coming up in about an hour. Matt patted her shoulder to ease her and together, they finally got Morgan to start eating her breakfast. Tyler watched her eat in peace and turned back to his food until he heard a little giggling coming from a few of the older slytherin girls and he remembered them from the crowd at the notice board. Then it hit him that Morgan was among them.

"Morgan, what was new on the notice board today? Matt and I tried to see what was so interesting but there were too many people around to read it."

"Oh," she said, starting to bow her head hiding her face beneath her hair, "It was the announcement of the first Hogsmeade trip next week."

"Really?" Tyler asked.

"Wow, finally. We could all finally go there now instead of just Regulus," Matt said.

"I know, also, I want to see this Shrieking Shack I've been hearing so much about." Tyler pressed on.

"And don't forget about Honeydukes. We could finally see their whole selection of treats."

"And have a good butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks."

"Ok," Morgan said interrupting. "I get it. The two of you can't wait. You two are giving me a headache."

Tyler and Matt took this as the cue to shut up. Then Sam sat next to Tyler as well. Tyler smiled at him since it seemed that he didn't need to have a confidence boost or be pushed to eat something before the match. Tyler just hoped that Tanner didn't give threatening speeches as Oakmire had done or he would have to really refrain himself from hexing him since he had enough of the former captain's death threats to last a lifetime.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Jacke was sitting with his new friends Jennifer and Max. Jacke was eating very comfortably, while Jennifer was sitting across him reading the latest issue of the Daily Prophet. Max was right next to Jacke, not eating a bite, just looking at his food.

"Max, you should eat. I know how it feels before your first game but after it was done, I laughed at myself at how I was so worried."

"I know, it's just that I think maybe I was off my rocker, joining the team. What if I mess up out there against Slytherin?"

"Hey, easy there Max. You'll do fine. You were chosen to be the chaser for a reason."

"Max, you should listen to Jacke," Jennifer started. "If he says that you could make it through this then you should believe him."

Jacke blushed a little at the praise. "Thanks Jennifer," he said smiling at her.

"No problem but you guys can call me Jenny."

"Jenny then." He put a comforting hand on Max's shoulder. "Trust me, you don't have to worry. Once you get on that broom, I guarantee you that you'll forget about being scared and concentrate on stealing that quaffle from the slytherins. We talked about this before, don't worry about it."

"I guess. I just hope that they don't really play as rough as I heard they do. I remember a few of their games last year. They were very tough looking."

"Well, there are new players on that team. Maybe it won't be as last year. I would know and I can't feel that they will be...as rough as before."

Jennifer gave Jacke a look that he quickly read as "Not helping"

"Ah, but it shouldn't be anything we can't handle."

Jennifer nodded at Jacke in which he read as "Good save."

Jacke just smiled back at her in full confidence.

(---)

The time of the match was fast approaching. Tyler, Morgan and Sam all got up from the table and started to head out of the Great Hall to head for the changing rooms. Tyler saw two first year slytherins, the ones he introduced himself to, waving over and Sam waved back to them.

"Friends of yours?" he asked him on their way out of the castle.

"Oh, you mean Bruce Baker and Lutz Napier. Yeah, you could say they are. I've been helping them adjust to staying at Hogwarts and stuff."

"Well that's nice."

"Yeah whatever."

Tyler just shrugged Sam's embarrassment off and nothing else was said until they got to the changing rooms. Tyler proudly put on his green team robes on and the rest of his game equipment on. Tyler looked over to Sam and Morgan and thought that the game robes suited them very well. Their captain, Tanner, called for silence and addressed the team.

"Okay now. We are up against the Gryffindors and we have a streak to maintain against these pathetic losers though I hope you all do well to remember that." After he said this, Tyler rolled his eyes at the comment but was careful no one saw him do it. "We beat them last year and we won't let them ruin our chance to see it happen again. I would like to say to our new players that you must play like your lives depended on it or you could be sure that that's the outcome if you mess up."

Tyler looked at both Morgan and Sam. Morgan raised her eyes at that while Sam backed into his seat a little.

"Our old regiment might be down to four but I say that we know what to do...hopefully," he said directing his eyes on Tyler's form for about a second. "Mefist, block those scoring attempts like you do against the Gryffindors and this will be easy."

Mefist nodded and smirked in response.

"As for you two," he said pointing to Gansley and Crump. "The two of you have always been ruthless so I expect that you won't let our team down."

The two of them nodded their heads at that comment like Tanner meant it as a compliment.

"And Solemn," he said staring right at him. "I do hope you will catch the snitch before that loser Jacke Walker does. Also, be sure to remember where your loyalties lie."

Tyler would've rolled his eyes at that comment but he did his best to keep a blank face on and to keep from reaching into his bag and pull out his wand for calling his best mate a loser to his face.

"The Gryffindor team has three new players so you could bet their style would be different huh? No. Gansley, Crump and I snooped their pathetic practices and saw that they were training them to play against past aggression. They don't know aggression like we do and were soft in their training of their new recruits. Thompson is their new captain but have your doubts that she'll be any better than Berkeley was. Gansley, Crump, Baddock, the three of you should make it past her or you'll answer to me. Those puny girl chasers Capland and Pettis are back but we've dealt with them before. Then there's their new player from last year, Jacke Walker, the one who seems to generate some doubts about the course of some people," he said directing his eyes to Tyler again making him glare back at his captain.

"The new players are the noble Prewitt twins," he said in a tone like it was a disgusting thing to say. "with a new chaser by the name Max Longhorn in your year Baddock. The Prewitts are the two new beaters but I won't let them out beat me and I expect the same from you Stellers. Longhorn should be easy prey and I'm sure you will take this personally Baddock. Be sure to keep them...on their toes in our dust along with their old players. Is that understood?"

"Yes," chanted the group.

"Good, Now get to it!"

(---)

Jacke saw Tyler, Morgan Stellers and Samuel Baddock get up and head out of the Great Hall.

'Probably going to get ready for the match. Guess, I better go to.'

"I'm off guys," he announced to Jennifer and Max.

"Wait, I'll go with you. I'm not going to eat anymore anyway."

"Bye guys. Good luck Max. Look out for him Jacke, I'll be rooting for you," Jennifer said waving them goodbye.

"Yeah," Jacke said a little more to himself than to Jennifer.

On their way, Jacke caught Max looking at him and he seemed to be struggling not to laugh.

"What?" Jacke asked innocently.

"Oh, nothing. Just the fact that you fancy Jenny."

"What?! Why do you say that?"

"Oh, just by the way you look at her and other stuff. I could see it. You fancy Jenny."

Jacke first impulse was to continue denying it but he found himself saying something else.

"I'm that obvious."

"Oh yeah. Though, I don't think Jenny knows...at least, you'd better hope so."

"You better not tell Jenny this, you hear me."

"Whoa, relax Jacke. I won't tell her, you have my word okay. Don't worry. You're the one that has to do something. Try calming down like you were telling me to and you'll be fine."

"Yeah...I guess so. You're obviously calm...maybe I should let you be involved in my love life often so you could always be your best," Jacke said trying to calm himself down in spite of Max finding out his secret.

"Ha Ha, yeah maybe. So, you really do like Jenny huh?"

"...Yeah...I really do. I mean, she's sweet, beautiful, calming, knows how to talk to me,"

"Okay, please, don't go into details. Your secret is safe with me but don't torture me about it."

Jacke laughed at that and they continued into the changing rooms. When he was changing, Jacke thought that it was a little better now that someone knew his secret and wouldn't let it get out.

'I think I can trust Max with this. If I had told Tyler, Reggie or Brad, then I might not hear the end of teasing especially from Tyler. He likes using whatever he can against me when we play quidditch against each other and I shouldn't give him another weapon.'

After they got themselves suited up, Sarah Thompson, their 6th year captain, called for their attention.

"All right, this is our first game of the season. We won the cup last year and I don't know about you but I'm hoping you all want a repeat of it."

There were chants of "Hear, Hear" and Sarah started again.

"We may have won the cup but Slytherin did beat us and this is something that there shouldn't be a repeat of. All right, we may have three new players but I want the three of you to go out there and show the whole school what you're made of. Gideon, Fabian, you two are very strong and accurate with your bludger attacks, keep them up and don't give the slytherins a chance to breathe."

"Don't worry," Gideon said.

"Yeah, you can count on us," Fabian added.

"Good, Max, you are our new chaser and the youngest member of our team but don't let that bother you alright. You're a heck of a good flyer and don't let anything out there make you believe otherwise, got it?"

"Yeah...I'll remember."

"Tanya, Velice, you two do your best and give Max your strength."

"We will," Tanya Pettis answered.

"You bet captain," said Velice Capland.

"And Jacke," she said finally turning to him. "Go out there and catch that snitch...okay?" She gave him a look of doubt after she said this and Jacke almost let out a puff of air.

"Okay, I'll give it my best shot and I won't let you down."

"Good...okay let's show them what we're all made of."

(---)

Reggie and Brad started to walk out with the rest of the school heading over to the pitch to watch the first game.

"Well Brad, this game is sure going to be better than the last one played."

"Why's that?"

"They're new players. You could bet that means that there'll be surprises in this match."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. With new blood, the match should be diff..."

He didn't get to finish that because he was lifted off his feet and started falling to the ground and Reggie fell with him. They looked back and saw that they were tripped by a slytherin seventh year and three slytherins; supposedly, who were his friends were with him and laughing at them.

"Good one Lestrange," one of them said.

"Yeah, priceless," said another one.

"Look, drying mud got on their faces. Good, now they completely match."

Reggie and Brad stood up and stared back at them hard but knew they couldn't do anything since there were more of them and not to mention that they were way taller and bigger than either of them.

"What's wrong," the one called Lestrange started. "Mudbloods can't talk. I would've guessed maybe a half-blood would know how to at least but no. You're the ones that our loser of a seeker hangs out with huh? Well, I just off picking random mudbloods to get the stress of not being able to play in this game and I happen to find you two to pick up." He said laughing at his ownjoke with a twisted gleam in his eyes."What a bonus. Maybe if we finally take care of the infection, Solemn can start being smart for once, after he takes a long bath to wash the scent of mud off himself," he said earning laughs from his friends.

Reggie and Brad both gritted their teeth at being completely humiliated and insulted, not to mention him talking about Tyler that way. Their hands went to their wands, ready to pull out the second that they were needed but before the situation could get any worse, there was a voice breaking the void.

"Is there a problem here?"

It was Professor Squall.

"No problem Professor," Lestrange said calmly to him with narrowed eyes.

"Good, then I suggest that you get moving. The match is going to start and I believe you have cheering for your team to do so move along."

The older slytherins passed giving them very hard glares and were soon out of sight.

"You two okay?" Professor Squall asked.

"Yeah...I guess," Brad said with a little doubt.

"I'm...I'm okay Professor."

The both of them were a little shaken. None of them experienced actual physical action because of their blood. They were usually teased or insulted with words but never did it get physical and by the looks of things; if Professor Squall didn't get involved then it could've become even worse.

"Tell you what. I'll go with you two. Besides, I'm supposed to check for troublemakers anyway."

"But Professor, don't the teachers stay in the teachers box?" Reggie asked.

"Normally yes, but I'm volunteering myself to be among the students and maintain a civilized crowd. Don't worry, I'll try not to be a bother when you're cheering. If you don't mind me asking, which team are you cheering for exactly unless it's Gryffindor which I heard most of the others in your houses say."

"We're cheering for both exactly," Brad said comfortably while it was clear Reggie felt a little uncomfortable talking so freely with a teacher. "We have friends in both teams."

"Which if you don't mind me asking again?" he said in an attempt to make the air seem more welcoming for Reggie since he seemed to notice his tense nature.

"Well...there's Jacke Walker who's on the Gryffindor team and there's also Tyler Solemn on the slytherin team," Reggie said in an attempt to be calm with a teacher.

"Oh so you're the ones I've been hearing about," Squall said as they came to the stands and took seats. "The ones that some of the students talk about, about how you two along with Mr. Walker and Tyler Solemn are mysterious because of your friendship."

"Yeah, that's us," Brad said a little proudly. He didn't feel ashamed of his friends in the slightest because they were exactly that, his friends.

Reggie turned his attention to the pitch where the announcer started to begin. He caught that Professor Squall used Tyler's whole name and put a little thought into it before he just shrugged it off as a little teacher remembrance.

Regulus joined them in the middle of the announcer, Phil Villar, introducing the Gryffindor team first. Matthew Carroway went off to join Nott and Moore, the other slytherin third years which was okay since Brad and Reggie wouldn't miss him much at all.

(---)

The match became evident that it would turn very hectic if it didn't end soon. Gansley and Crump really started the situation when they charged right at Max Longhorn, almost knocking him clean off his broom when he had possession of the quaffle. This earned a foul to Gryffindor. Tanner's aim was a whole lot better than last year as the bludgers he sent to the Gryffindor players were always in the vicinity of their head areas. The Prewitt twins retaliated with good rounded bludger attacks straight in front of the chaser who happened to have the quaffle making the older slytherin players play even dirtier. They continued to do things, which gave fouls to the Gryffindors but Mefist was blocking half of them. There was bumping, elbowing and other nasty exchanges going on between the Slytherins and Gryffindors as the match dragged on.

Both Tyler and Jacke started to breathe very nervously. Knowing how ugly this game was starting to get, they knew they could do nothing unless they caught the snitch and ended it.

Tyler saw with pleasure however, that Morgan was doing well. She managed to stay on the right side of the bludgers out there and her aim was great; Also, Tyler noted that she was a little cleaner in her aim keeping it away from the players' heads but aimed for their chest areas or limbs. Sam was flying terrifically; with him being so small and speedy, it was hard for the Prewitts or the chasers to get the upper hand. He was a little ruthless in bumping any Gryffindor who got close but only if they were trying to get the quaffle away from him.

Jacke looked over at Max whenever he thought he could risk it and saw with pride that he seemed to leave his worries on the ground. He had a look of concentration in whatever he was doing and listened to his advice in keeping far away from the opposite beaters so he would have time to better avoid their bludger attacks. He almost was clobbered by a bludger sent by Morgan Stellers but felt it brush his arm. He opened his eyes wide at her fantastic aim as he saw the attack just in the nick of time.

The score was 390 – 330 with Gryffindor in the lead. It had been over an hour and a half and the heat of the match was only going to get hotter. Jacke was circling the pitch as he had learned his lesson of being stationary from last year with Tyler close by also circling around the inner part of the pitch. Then Jacke saw it, the golden snitch at the very opposite, long side of the field. He looked over and Tyler hadn't seen it yet. Jacke took that chance and immediately put a hard grip on his broom and whipped as hard as he could over to the snitch's location.

Tyler was still looking for hopes of the snitch until he heard Morgan yelling over to him.

"Tyler, fly to your right quick. Walker's found the snitch."

Tyler didn't dare start to question what he heard Morgan's voice say. He immediately charged in that direction after she said the word snitch so he couldn't be sure that she said anything else. He was on Jacke's tail and then looked on ahead, in his best mate's path to indeed see the familiar glint of gold up ahead.

Jacke looked over his shoulder to see Tyler gaining. Tyler's Silver Arrow broom was a little faster than Jacke's Cleansweep Two so Jacke wasn't totally surprised but he still had the guts to push himself off to the snitch before Tyler could get it. He extended his arm in getting himself ready to snatch the snitch the second he got to where it was. He was doing well until he heard a whistling sound. He looked to the source of the sound coming from his left and saw that a bludger was heading straight in front of his path and he realized that if he didn't completely stop then he would intersect with it. Jacke pulled his broom up allowing the bludger to pass by but also felt a gust of wind as Tyler passed by and made the grab. Jacke looked over at the direction in which the bludger came from and saw that Morgan Stellers was the one who had hit the bludger in his direction. Jacke let out a sigh of defeat when he turned his head down from Stellers' sight.

Tyler was approached by Morgan and by Sam who congratulated him and patted his back. Tyler really felt proud. Not just because Slytherin won 540 to 390 but also because he could now share the victory with friends on his team. Tyler looked over to see Jacke hovering down and heading to the changing rooms looking more tired than disappointed. Tyler himself was feeling drained from the excitement, the long game and from the adrenaline rush but he couldn't help but feel a little happy that the wins between him and Jacke were tied at two a piece, two from quidditch for Tyler and two from dueling to Jacke.

Reggie and Brad clapped hard at the performance the two of their friends put up during the match.

"The new players really changed how everyone played from last year huh?" Brad asked.

"Yeah, that was definitely a great match. I'm sure you have someplace to be, huh Regulus?" Reggie said turning over to Regulus himself.

"Yeah, I have some friends to celebrate with. I'll tell Tyler you send your congratulations." Before he could leave, he added something. "Oh and Brad, please control your cheer waves, you almost clobbered my head with you waving like a wild man."

Brad turned a little red as Reggie chuckled at him earning him a playful slap on the arm.

The two of them looked at their other guest, Professor Squall to see he had an impressed and happy smile on his face and was nodding his head the way someone did to a relative's success.

After Jacke finished changing, he went to sit at one of the seats in the now deserted quidditch stadium. Jacke couldn't believe it. He was sure that he would beat Tyler to the snitch this time but Stellers had changed that. He was a little disappointed but couldn't help but forget the feeling of failure when he remembered something that he saw before he spotted the snitch. He saw Jennifer cheering at her hardest in Jacke's direction and just the memory of that image made him forget that the match was even lost. Then, he saw two shadows come up close to him and saw that they were Max and Jennifer herself.

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself Jacke. You were really to winning it over there. We'll get them next time," Max said in a tone that he was afraid Jacke might yell but that just made Jacke happier to see that his new friend really cared about his feelings the way he did.

"I'm okay. Thanks anyway Max. You played a great game yourself if I do say so myself. You should be proud of yourself."

"Jacke, I really thought you would win. I kept my fingers crossed the whole time and I hope that you'll be alright."

"It's okay Jenny," Jacke said turning to Jennifer. "I just came out here to just clear my head a bit. It's okay, believe me. If I couldn't win then at least my best mate did at least and that takes away most of the disappointment but I'm really thankful I had your support out there."

Then something happened that Jacke wasn't expecting. Jennifer gave out a good pure smile, probably at the use of her nickname or of the appreciation of her cheers and then went to hug Jacke...hard. Jacke turned a little red as he awkwardly patted her back and saw Max get a silly grin on his face at the sight.

"Don't be too bigheaded Jacke," Jennifer said as she pulled away. "I wasn't just rooting for you. It was for you and Max you know."

Jacke rubbed his head with a smile on his face while Max bowed mockingly to Jennifer which made her start to smile too. Then the three of them headed up to the castle together.

**(---)**

**End of Chapter 10**

Nightlit: I'm sure you read my review on your newest one shot, which I found very good. I just hope you haven't given up on your bigger story though. Oh, and your guess with what's going on with Morgan, I have to say that you aren't close at all. It's actually pretty obvious, at least I think so anyway.

Author Notes:

Well, Tyler defeated Jacke in catching the snitch again. Now their scores of their victories over each other is tied. They're at a stalemate. Also, Jacke fancies Jennifer Gardner. The next chapter will have the first trip to Hogsmeade that the seekers experience but you can bet it will be the first of many.

Review.


	11. Times of Friendship

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 11: Times of Friendship

Tyler, Morgan and Sam arrived in the common room to find that there were a few bits of food and dessert spread all around which he saw weren't so different from that of the Great Hall's. He suspected that somehow, some food must've been stolen but at the moment, he could care less. Tyler and Morgan went off to some corner with a bit of food while Sam went off to be among the first and second years.

While Tyler was eating, his mind went back to the play Morgan made before to block Jacke's advance to the snitch. If Morgan hadn't blocked Jacke then Jacke would've got it while he was still trying to get to him.

"Hey Morgan," Tyler said while they were eating together in peace. "Thanks, for helping me out with the snitch. I couldn't have found it without you and you helped me catch it by delaying Jacke."

"Oh...no problem. Happy to do it. We are on the same team, you know," she said looking down, hiding her face.

"Well thanks anyway Morgan. I probably wouldn't have won without your help. I'll find some way to make it up to you."

At that moment, Regulus and Matt slumped beside them with cups of cider and pumpkin in their hands.

"What a fantastic game mates," Matt said cheerfully putting his cups down and placing his shoulders around both Tyler and Morgan's necks.

"Yeah, you started Slytherin well by winning the very first match of the season. Builds up the confidence to keep it up." Regulus then bent down to look at Morgan with proud eyes, like how someone would do so for a younger sibling. "Morgan, you were truly fantastic. I didn't expect you to be so good in this first game. You were really showing the bludgers you hit and your targets that you weren't to be thought weak just because you're a girl."

"Oh, so you expected me to be bad," she said glaring at Regulus and crossing her arms but she had a slight smile on her lips.

"A little," Regulus said before he had to dodge Morgan's attempt to smack his head.

They continued sitting there, chatting about the game and the third year friends also talked of the approaching Hogsmeade trip one week away.

(---)

The school, on the following day, had to endure hearing the slytherins' taunts of how they started the year with a good quidditch lead. Jacke noticed that some of the older and bigger slytherins gave him narrow eyes of suspicion and hatred while others gave him fake sorrow and concern about losing the game, which made him clench his teeth every time he heard a smart remark.

Luckily, he had Reggie, Brad, Tyler, Max and Jennifer comforting him and making sure that he didn't play into their hands and do something that would land him in detention. Jacke was also happy to see that when there was a crowd of the usual older slytherins coming close to him, Regulus was among them and got them to change their direction by pointing towards the direction of the Great Hall where some girls were. He caught Regulus winking at him while Jacke responded by trying not to look at him and mouthed an inaudible "Thank You."

Reggie and Brad were just finishing up an essay for Professor Reckler on the pros and cons of Pepper Up Potion, which mainly was a potion which was like magical steroids and would increase your speed, stamina and reaction. But it would also raise your heart rate and would make the person stressful and violent like. They were working on how to explain with 12 inches when Tyler and Jacke sat by them.

They sat and started to talk on the latest quidditch game. Jacke told them of the taunts that the slytherins were giving him whenever he was in the area.

"They keep saying, "Oh Walker, sorry there. You must be so devastated to be out manned by a girl." I almost jinxed them but Max and Jenny stopped me."

"Jacke, ignore what the older slytherins are saying. You were great, believe me, I really thought you would beat Tyler from when you shot out to the snitch when Tyler wasn't looking," Reggie said to Jacke patting his shoulder.

"Standing right here," Tyler said raising his hand for attention, which made Jacke crack a good smile. "Anyway, you should be proud of yourself. No one has ever dodged one of Morgan's attacks cleanly like you did," he added at Jacke's questionable face that he made when Tyler thought he should be proud. "I barely do that, Morgan always makes the bludgers glaze me every time she aims for me."

"Well...when you put it that way. Stellers was pretty good, I admit that. She did get me worried that I was going to be flying straight down to the ground if I hadn't stopped when I did."

"Yeah, well I owe alot to Morgan since because of her, we're tied now. Two a piece."

"Not for long Tyler," Jacke said with his eyes full of challenge.

"I just hope that the rest of us could avoid Stellers' attack when we play against you," Brad said looking up from his essay. "By the way mates, where should we meet on Saturday, before we get to Hogsmeade?"

The other three seekers put some thought on where they should meet up with each other when Tyler got a good place.

"Why not meet right on the outside, to the left of the General Doors. That way, we can't miss each other when we leave the castle?"

The other three nodded at this while they all made plans on where to go and what to buy when they went through Honeydukes. Reggie pointed out that if they wanted to save room for the Halloween Feast, they better not overstuff themselves.

(---)

The days following had started to be filled with so much anticipation for the weekend that the days started to seem longer as people wanted the week to end.

Professor Squall sensed their anxiousness and he moved from teaching them about dark creatures to learning some good spells that would come in handy for dueling. He assigned all the third years to practice the advanced stunning hex. He spoke on the matter during Tyler's class with the slytherins

"I know that this spell is usually taught during the course of your fourth year but I think it's best to learn this one as soon as possible since it's a very popular and frequently used spell in dueling for as long as I could remember hearing. I think it will take the whole week to get you all to master it so I will set up targets for you to practice on. Then on Friday, I will pair you all up. Okay, you can start."

Everyone in the class went up to a target and started to shout out the 'Stupefy' incantation but all were having difficulty seeing any effect. Tyler, however, was the only one to use the hex correctly, which he assumed that he and his classmates shouldn't be so surprised of. He did prove to them his ability with this spell when he battled Jacke in the tournament last year. Tyler could still remember when his father showed him the spell before he had bought a wand. His father wanted Tyler to be able to defend himself should anything happen to him in the event that their secret got out.

After he used it five straight times without failure, Professor Squall pulled Tyler aside.

"Mr. Solemn, you're very good with the spell. From what Ms. Stellers tells me, you performed the spell flawlessly last term."

Tyler put his hand behind his hair, a little in embarrassment. "Yeah, err...my dad...he taught me how to perform it."

"Well, I must say that he obviously did a great job. Mr. Solemn, would you mind if I call you by your first name when we are in private?"

"Err, no, of course not Professor," Tyler said a little confused and surprised at actions of his teacher.

"All right, why don't you try and help your classmates out a bit."

Tyler went over to help Morgan and Matt with their stunners. It was hard to get them to have progress but he knew how to handle this from the experience of teaching this and a few other spells to his fellow seekers last term, after the tournament they were in. Tyler also caught Professor Squall looking at him very peculiarly. It wasn't a look that made Tyler worried, just curious.

(---)

After a week of waiting, it was not only Saturday, and not only Halloween, it was also the day of the Hogsmeade trip. Almost every third year woke up a little early on that day and were all gathered in their common rooms. The seekers were no exceptions; they too were in the common rooms talking among a few of their house members.

Brad was talking to his fellow housemate, Hawkster Jones in his year. Ever since they fought in the tournament, they've gotten to know each other better. Hawkster seemed to be a little on the hard side but was actually quite nice. Just like the case with Jacke's housemate comrades, Hawkster told Brad that he first thought Brad as the person no one in their house should trust with beliefs of Tyler cursing himself, Reggie and Jacke. But after seeing the way the seekers battled each other, Hawkster saw that maybe that wasn't the case.

Brad was also starting to feel a little like his old self before he came to Hogwarts and his confidence was building in the area of friends. He even told Hawkster a bit of his life before Hogwarts that he didn't even tell anyone else other than Reggie. He never even told Tyler and Jacke that he had a baby sister. Hawkster was a very important friend to Brad since he thought it was nice that he had someone in his own house to talk to for a change. He did really like his friends but he needed friends in his own house too.

When it became time, everyone who was going to the village started to leave the common room for the main doors.

In the Ravenclaw common room, Reggie talked with a few of the girls waiting or not waiting for the announcement to leave for the village and ended up making a few giggle with some jokes. Reggie flirted with a few of them which made the giggling more frequent but Reggie, unlike his other friends, liked hearing girls giggle. He started to notice how beautiful girls looked lately and started to fool around more, and he enjoyed it. He had already set a date for the next Hogsmeade trip. Obviously, the girls liked him back and Reggie started to be surprised with his new confidence as of late. He had made a new friend in his year by the name Laura Collins after the tournament last year.

'Tyler's slytherin confidence must be rubbing off on me,' he thought a little gratefully. 'But...I guess I have a bit more since Tyler wouldn't understand girls if someone taught him about them for a hundred years, kind of like Jacke too.'

Reggie didn't think of himself as a handsome guy but he found out that even he wasn't smart enough to not see that he was starting to be. He guessed the reason that he was starting to be confident with girls was because he notice that a few of them in the library always seemed to double back every time he was sitting at a section just to pass by him. He even caught a few looking at him from their desks at class, the Great Hall, and of course the library with attentive eyes.

He asked Laura about it since it was obvious that she was in on girl gossip and told him that girls saw that he had handsome blonde hair, nice gray eyes, was a good quidditch player and was mysterious based on his friendship with the other seekers especially Tyler. Laura told him that this is what girls in his house saw in him.

Reggie kept talking among the girls until it became time to go to the school's entrance so he left with Laura and a few of her girlfriends down from Ravenclaw Tower.

Jacke decided to wait outside the common room until it was time to go since he hated hearing the giggling a few of the older girls...and his age and younger when Hogsmeade was involved. He just had his back to a wall and was enjoying the giggle free area until he felt a tap on the shoulder and saw Jennifer at his left side.

"Hi, Jenny."

"Hi. I see you're not waiting in the common room for the time to go."

"The giggling the girls are doing was giving me a headache. What's wrong with them anyway?"

"Oh, it's just that a few of the older ones use these times to go on dates and stuff."

"Oh." Jacke was hoping that he wasn't turning red.

"So, you're going with your friends huh?" It wasn't really a question.

"Yeah, we're planning to just hang around and see what the best that the village has to offer. What about you?"

"Oh, I'm just going to walk a little about with Max and a few others. Maybe we'll bump into each other later."

"Yeah hopefully we will." Jacke was starting to feel a little hot in the collar but was saved any more nervousness when Max came around.

"There you are Jacke. I was looking for you. It's a madhouse in there huh?"

"Why do you think I'm out here for?" Jacke said a little too glad in his opinion.

With Max there, Jacke was feeling more relaxed and the three Gryffindors talked amongst themselves until it was time to get going.

Tyler was just lounging on a chair with his head laid back trying to catch some sleep since he had a hard time sleeping last night with the thrill of the trip coming up that he was barely aware of anything around him. He was until he felt a big tap on his shoulder that was too aggressive to be from a friend. He looked and saw that it was the seventh year Rebastian Lestrange with the other seventh years including his quidditch captain Tanner.

"Well Solemn, I hear from one of our girls in our year that she caught sight of you still hanging out with those loser of friends of yours," Lestrange said talking to Tyler like he was holding a wand at him.

"You mind explaining that to me," Tanner said narrowing his eyes at him like he did during his overstated lecture.

"None of your business," he said glaring at them with the sharpest gaze he could muster.

"I would've thought that they would've stopped. Well at least with Falkner and that Carter Mudblood after what happened before the game last week."

"What?" he asked in surprise.

"Oh you didn't know. Let's just say that fell victim to a well needed talk," Lestrange said with a sneer creating snickers and grins from the ones around him.

"Get lost," he responded in a tone that he was deeply angry and not to mention annoyed.

"Oh...very forceful Solemn. That kind of tone will surely make people fear you," Tanner said mocking Tyler's tone.

"Hey, leave me alone with him," Lestrange said to them. When they left, Lestrange took a chair next to Tyler as if they were about to have a friendly conversation. Tyler really wanted to jinx Lestrange right then and there but he knew that it was impossible since he could see that his buddies were still close by. "I'm going to give you a piece of advice between us slytherins. Lose the Gryffindor and the mudbloods and you'll thank the rest of us for getting rid of your problems before they could even start. You'll be bait for the Dark Lord if you don't."

Tyler clenched his teeth under his lips and balled his hands into fists that were threatening to pierce his skin. "Yeah, definitely won't want to do something he won't like huh?" he said sarcastically.

Lestrange gave him a cold glare after mocking Voldemort. 'If he only knew that he's my cousin,' Tyler thought with ironic humor.

"You'll be made to regret that. Mark my words."

Then he went and walked off leaving Tyler wondering what Lestrange meant by that. He didn't have much time to worry about that since Matt and Morgan joined up with him and he instantly forgot he was angry and they talked amongst themselves until it was time to go.

(---)

The four seekers waved bye to their respective friends and joined each other by the doors like they agreed. They all went over in the back of the line of students and saw the wonderful village of Hogsmeade. The first thing that all four of them did was put on a fascinated look of impressed faces.

"Wow," Reggie said looking around at the buildings and houses.

"Come on," Brad said excitingly. "We didn't plan our day to just be looking through it. Let's go."

They started to walk throughout Hogsmeade, going no particular place first. They were just taking in the sight. Tyler had always lived at the Slytherin Mansion and only saw a few times, Diagon Alley so it was a good sight to see how it was in a regular wizarding town. Jacke lived in a muggle house that his parents expanded the inside so it was larger then you could expect. But, despite him living among muggles, he didn't really know that much about them since he was always surrounded by magic at home and whenever he went to wizarding events and to Diagon Alley. Reggie and Brad both also lived in muggle neighborhoods so it was the first time that they got to see a regular wizarding neighborhood for a change.

As they took in the scenery, the air around the village was very different from the sight. Everywhere they looked, they saw grown up villagers looking on alert and some even had wands in their hands. It was no mystery why not as they saw fliers of Caution on store windows and posts. They went over to one and after reading it understood completely.

**Caution!**

**Due to the present events, know that it is best to stay on alert in the event of a Death Eater attack from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Keep yourselves armed with wands at all times for your defense. If you come across a suspicious character(s), please don't linger and report to the Ministry of Magic. This is for your own safety.**

Tyler let out a breathe of air at this sign which Jacke caught out of the corner of his eye.

"Tyler, come on. Let's forget about your git cousin and have fun like we wanted."

Reggie hit his shoulder and hushed him. "Jacke, you really are picking a nice place to have this conversation." Reggie looked around and saw that thankfully, no one was around to pick up on that.

"No, it's okay Reggie. Don't worry. He's right. Let's forget about my crazy cousin and have fun."

The four of them headed over to the joke shop of Zonko's. There they found a number of jokes and fun wizarding objects. Reggie bought himself some Filibuster Fireworks. Brad bought some of the fireworks and a pack of Dungbombs. Tyler bought himself some Stink Pellets and Jacke got himself Rainbow Changing Ink.

At the request of Tyler, the seekers trudged off toward the Shrieking Shack. It was a tall, little shack that was completely boarded and sealed up. It was also fenced off but the four of them could see that it would make very little difference. The whole building itself gave off a feeling that everyone should stay away if they knew what was good for them.

After looking around the shack for a few minutes, Reggie pulled them off to visit the local village bookstore. Tyler and Jacke tried to resist but Reggie along with Brad's support convinced them to come along. When they stepped in, they noticed that it was a little on the empty side which the two fun going friends tried to point out to Reggie and Brad but they countered saying that that would make it better to look around. Reggie looked around some of the more boring looking books while Jacke, Tyler and Brad went off to look for more interesting stuff. Brad went and got a book on magical devices.

"Well, I am part of the wizarding world now so might as well learn how they run things," he commented.

Jacke and Tyler looked at each other with a dazed look. Brad was starting to like studying and reading spare stuff a little too much which they were sure was of Reggie's influence. After Reggie and Brad picked out a book, Reggie started to say that Tyler and Jacke should at least get one. They tried to tell him that they didn't want anything to read since the schoolbooks were enough. Brad whispered something to Reggie's ear and they both set off without them further down the shop. They said that they could go wait outside while they got one more thing.

"Is it me or is Reggie becoming more involved into his studies?" Tyler asked Jacke.

"Yeah, I've noticed. He says that with the extra studying that he's doing now, he won't be regretting it later."

"What about?"

"Don't know. I think he's got Brad in on it."

"Yeah, and what is with the book Brad wanted. If he wanted to know about magical devices, he could just ask us about them. My family kept quite a few back at home so I know quite a bit about some, even some of the darker ones."

"Yeah...but still, it's not like even we know them all."

"True," Tyler said nodding.

Then their fellow seekers came out of the store with a big bag holding their new purchases.

"So we don't have to get a book?" Tyler said a little too hopefully.

"Nice try," Reggie said narrowing his eyes at them. "We got the two of you something that has nothing to do anything with work at all. Brad came up with it. He thought that if it was on something that the two of you love then you wouldn't mind reading it."

"Really? What?" Jacke said a little doubtfully.

"This," Brad said pulling out a book. The title read, The Great Almanac of Quidditch.

Tyler and Jacke were actually a little speechless that Reggie and Brad succeeded in getting a book that they would probably not mind reading at all. Jacke even made a grab for it but Brad pulled it back into the bag.

"Later."

The four set off to where Jacke wanted to go next which was in Honeydukes. They bought a good selection of Droobles Blowing Gum, Honeydukes Chocolate Bars, Fizzing Whizzes, Bertie beans, Sugar Quills. They were all about to start eating some until Brad pointed out that there was still the Halloween Feast back at the castle.

They sat on a bench just looking out at the village, not saying a word. They merely looked off and just enjoyed each other's company. Then out of nowhere, Reggie said something that hadn't been on their minds after the first week of school.

"Guys, I want you guys to know that I've been doing a little training in my spare time to prepare for the time that we're going for the potion."

"Training?" Tyler asked.

"Yeah, I've just been trying to get myself to manipulate and create wind faster and also mastering my eagle form so I could have a better advantage for whatever is through the portal that your ancestor hid the potion. I've also been reading up good spells that might be helpful and also looking at a few good creatures that might be good for guarding. Brad's been helping me a bit with that and also has been a training partner on the other side of the lake, outside where our old cave was. Haven't any of you been training? I know Brad has. What have the two of you been doing?"

Tyler looked down on the ground. He had completely left what was possibly the greatest wonder of the wizarding world completely slip his mind with quidditch training along with Sam and Morgan and with the excitement of Professor Squall's defense classes. Jacke was smitten with Jennifer and with quidditch training with Max.

"Well, I haven't really trained myself good yet but I'll start soon, promise," Tyler said holding up two fingers straight ahead vertically.

"I'm in. I need the practice. I just hope I haven't gotten rusty."

"Well, I hope so or you could come out inside out from whatever is through that portal."

"Relax Reggie," Tyler said putting his hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay. We've been through a lot together and we'll get through this together."

"Yeah," Jacke said backing his mate up. ""We always find a way", remember?"

Then they all reached forward and piled their hands on top of each other, threw them up, made them all come down made make a fist like they were grabbing a snitch and changed "Seekers" together.

After that, they left the bench they shared and went for the last place in which Brad asked if they could go, The Three Broomsticks. The walked in at the sight of a wizard café. Tyler went and ordered four butterbeers while his friends found their own booth. They all tapped their butterbeer bottles together and started to drink. They just talked peacefully until Reggie saw Professor Squall walk into the shop and take a seat not too far from them.

"Hey look, Professor Squall must be here to check for order again," Reggie said pointing over to him with a butterbeer still clenched with it.

"What do you mean again?" Jacke asked.

"Oh, before your game last week, he saved Me and Reggie from some creep called Lestrange and his pals when they tripped us up and started messing with us," Brad said making a little hard face at the unpleasant memory.

'So that's what he meant,' Tyler thought as he spit out his butterbeer after hearing that.

"What's wrong mate?" Jacke asked looking over at his friend.

"Nothing," Tyler said coughing up a bit. "Why didn't you say anything to us?"

"Doesn't matter. Like we could do anything," Reggie said making a hard face matching Brad's. "Besides, like Brad said, Professor Squall helped us out. He's even a better guy outside the classroom," Reggie said smiling a bit.

"Yeah, he seemed a little excited to see the game between Gryffindor and Slytherin though."

"And you know what," Reggie said suddenly remembering something. "He called you by your whole name when we told him who we were rooting for."

"He did?" Tyler asked a little surprised. "That's funny," he said a little to himself.

"What? What funny?" Jacke asked.

"Oh, he pulled me aside earlier in the week and asked if he could call me Tyler when we were in private."

The other three seekers scratched their heads at how their teacher was acting. They didn't feel anything dangerous from him, just were a little curious of how he acted.

"Did you know him before this Tyler?"

"No Jacke, I didn't even see his face before starting school this year. But I have a funny feeling about him. It's like...like I should," he said looking no particular place in front of him in thought.

"Should we keep an eye on him? This is starting to be close to last year," Brad said looking over at Squall again.

"No, I don't think we should. Just because he's acting close to what Arnold was doesn't have to mean anything. Maybe he's just plain friendly and just happens to just be fond of you Tyler," Reggie said as he took another sip of butterbeer.

"Hmm...maybe."

They turned to look at Professor Squall as they started to finish up their butterbeers. Before they took their last sips to their drinks, Squall got up and caught their eyes. He waved them off with his head and smiled in their direction, linking eyes with Tyler for a mere second. Tyler realized that he didn't feel anything threatening but warm coming from Professor Squall as he left the shop.

When it became time to head back to the castle, the four of them shook hands as they went their separate paths to find their in house friends and join them back up to the castle. Despite a few bumps and suspicions, it turned out to be a pretty good day of hanging out with your best friends in a wizarding village. None of the seekers were willing to trade the day they had with each other for anything.

(---)

**End of Chapter 11**

Swollen Fridge: Thanks for your review. I know I answered your question already but for those who read your review and were wondering the same thing, Yes, Tyler and Jacke did play and duel against Brad and Reggie before, it's just that those two like keeping score with each other.

Author Notes:

Well there goes a good day in Hogsmeade for the seekers. Just what was Lestrange talking about when he threatened Tyler? We know he becomes a Death Eater so we could say that he's capable of anything. Also, what's Professor Squall's story. He is a friendly figure but we've all learned that there is always something behind something. Why is Professor Squall treating Tyler differently?

The next chapter will start to move us more ahead with training and spell work. Like Reggie said, they don't know what's guarding the Potion of Fecundity so they have to be ready for anything.


	12. Getting Ready

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 12: Getting Ready

After the seekers spent that Halloween day at Hogsmeade, it became time for the thing that they've been putting off ever since the first two days of school, their training. Reggie and Brad had already long started but Tyler and Jacke had not. They figured that they all should set a time for when they would go to the forest and seek the Potion of Fecundity before starting. They were on the grounds, near the groundskeeper's hut, about two weeks after, discussing the time that they should go for the potion.

"How about we go for it this coming Saturday?" offered Brad.

"I'm thinking maybe after the next quidditch game of Ravenclaw vs. Hufflepuff might be the best time. Everyone would be so excited that they won't notice if we're missing," Reggie offered.

"The next Hogsmeade weekend," Jacke said with a little regret at having to sacrifice one of those for this escapade.

"Definitely not," Reggie said with a surprising voice. "Er...oh forget it, might as well tell you this, I have a date on that time. I'm taking Claudia Ments to Hogsmeade. Anyway," he said before anyone could talk on that. "I still think that after the match would be best anyway."

"No," Tyler said making them all stare at him. "I don't think that those plans would work. To get this potion, it could take us more than a few hours; it could take more than a day. I read the journal that my ancestor left back in the chamber. I read the passage before the last one and he said it took the four founders about a whole day to get the potion. I think that you've all forgotten that now that we all have new friends in our houses, that they'll be looking for us if we're gone for too long."

The other three slowly nodded in agreement. Tyler was right. These plans were made on the assumption that they wouldn't be missed but that wasn't the case as of late.

"What we need...is a time where we are sure that we won't be missed," Reggie said.

"A time that could definitely give us a good cover story no matter what," added Brad.

"Where we're sure that no one would think anything were wrong no matter how long we were out of sight," Jacke said scratching his hair.

"Yeah, but where are we going to get a time to take advantage of?" Tyler finished.

Then, with the speed of the fastest lightning, the four of them thought of a time coming up that would be perfect.

"Christmas break," they all chorused.

"Great minds do think alike," Brad said.

"It's perfect. We could all sign up on the list of people staying over for the holidays and use that time for hunting down the potion. The number of people who stay are always low," Tyler stated.

"Makes sense to me," Brad said. "Though, it's going to be a bit rough for my folks since I had always come home when I could. I guess I'll try and make a good excuse."

"I see no problem with this plan. I'm for it and I'm sure that I won't have any trouble about convincing my parents nothing is unusual," Reggie said.

"Honestly, I think that waiting for that long is going to be a down right pain but I still like it," Jacke finished. "As for leaving for home, I should be good."

"Good then, it's settled. My family shouldn't mind me being here for Christmas. Though, I think I agree that waiting for Christmas might just be a little long," he said looking at Jacke as he said this.

"No, it won't be too long. It might actually be too soon."

"What do you mean by that Reggie?" Tyler asked.

"The two of you hadn't really trained well for this. Remember, there's a good chance that getting the potion is going to be very difficult. Unless, you found something about it in your ancestor's journal."

He shook his head. "I've glanced at the end part of the book, around the whole potion thing, and I found nothing about obstacles, just the mention of finding the portal and then it jumps to using it to shape the land to how it was wanted."

"Well then, we'll just have to work at what we do best. Just train in the best way we think is right and we should be fine," Reggie nodded off.

Then a deep, rough voice came in "You boys all righ' there?"

The four of them turned from where they were sitting on the ground to find Hagrid the Groundskeeper. He was carrying a crate with a few tiny holes plucked in there the size of wand tips.

"Oh, we're okay Mr. Hagrid," Reggie said.

"No mister. Just Hagrid there lads. I see that you're all doing good."

They nodded at him with faint smiles as a confirmation of his words.

"Need help there Hagrid?" Jacke offered.

"Oh no, I got it. I just saw you four sittin' here and decided to say hello. It's nice seeing you young ones hanging around together."

Tyler couldn't help but mentally smirking at that. 'Not everyone feels that way, some feel the downright opposite' he thought as his mind wandered to his housemates and to his friends' that thought they were untrustworthy because they were his friends.

"What's in there Hagrid?" Tyler asked.

"Oh, just somethin' for you third years. Professor Kettleburn's next lesson but don't go asking me about it because you won't get nuttin out of me," he said after giving one last smile and going off.

As Hagrid went off, the seekers started to get to work as they had less than two months to get ready for their plan to get the Potion of Fecundity.

(---)

The seekers had to focus on training and they had to do it carefully from prying eyes. They went and sneaked off the grounds to go to the rock formation where the cave they trained before used to be. They did it at the cover of the dark night or at the misty air of the early morning. To be sure that they wouldn't be seen, they used their animagus forms to get out of the castle. To be even more careful, Tyler told them all about the tunnels that Chaos has been using ever since their first year. Jacke didn't think it would work for him as the tunnels space was three feet all around in size and since his animagus form was the biggest while the others were smaller animals. It was until Brad reminded him that thanks to the Elemental potion's effects to their bodies, he could change the size of his form making small enough to fit comfortably. They would have Chaos lead the way to holes leading out of the castle that they used to cross in complete secrecy. After about a week of sneaking off together, the four of them started spreading themselves around after familiarizing the ways through the tunnels, out of the castle.

As he said, Reggie focused on getting his element to be manifested much faster. He timed how long it took for him to conjure a visible force of wind to use as a forceful weapon. So far, his fastest time to getting his element out was a solid 42 seconds. He wanted it out much faster than that. He knew that should the need arise; his elemental power shouldn't take a second to spare in manifesting. He could manipulate faster though. It took him around 10 seconds to get the wind around him to do what he wanted. He also practiced a few good spells he picked up and was perfecting the stunning spell and shield charm that Tyler had started to show them last term. To better prepare for the day when they go to get the potion.

Brad was taking a leaf out of Reggie's book and focusing on his elemental powers as well. Brad was doing much better in that than Reggie. He could create a ball of water in his hand in less than 10 seconds and could manipulate water faster. He had practiced every moment that he could on perfecting this power for the past two summers and in his spare time if he had any back at the muggle world. He wasn't too surprised that he was this far ahead. He had really improved thanks to practicing for his parents. Luckily for Brad, his parents were muggles so they couldn't know that the wizarding world thought of his power as a very dark art, they believed it to be one of the most wonderful things that Brad could do. Brad also trained himself by paying more attention in Transfiguration and in the subject textbook for transfiguration spells that might come in handy.

"Hey Reggie," Brad said when they were leaving their latest defense class after Professor Squall taught them about werewolves. "We've been studying and training executing our spells but maybe we should act a little like Tyler and Jacke and battle each other."

"Each other? We do do that."

"No, I mean the way that they do it. Those two always use every trick and talent that they have against each other like their animal and element powers along with spells. You and I usually focus on those one at a time but maybe we should learn to act more on our toes."

"Well...I admit that the two of us could do better in fighting that way. We have to consider everything that is guarding the potion and it could make us have to battle like that. Maybe Tyler and Jacke have the right ideas...when it comes to stuff like this only of course," he said smiling a little and causing Brad to chuckle under his breath.

"How about we battle each other away from Tyler and Jacke. Just the two of us where we could have full concentration. If we bring them then they might cause us to lose concentration thanks to their cheers and bets that they might make."

"Definitely, those two love competing against one another," Reggie agreed.

It seemed that doing this without Tyler and Jacke not knowing would be a synch. Reggie and Brad planned to battle on Friday night and Tyler and Jacke told them that they were going to turn in early. When they asked the two of them why, they said that they wanted to do their own kind of training at the early morning then late at night.

"This is perfect. We could train this way without those two interfering. I know that they wouldn't like us doing the same thing if they were going to fight like this," Reggie said relieved at the break.

"I think so too. Hey Reggie, how about we go over to the old rock valley at around a quarter to 1 o'clock? That should be more than enough time to make sure that Hawkster and your new friend Laura leave us in the common room while they go to bed."

"Fine with me. We'll use the Chaos' tunnels that Tyler showed us."

Then Reggie and Brad wound up at their next class of Potions with Professor Reckler.

(---)

Reggie and Brad were at the rock valley at 1 o'clock the following night. They made sure that there would be no one around to hear the spells or noise. Reggie searched overhead and saw no one who could be close enough. Hagrid was the closest and he was at his hut on the opposite side of the lake, close to an edge of the Forbidden Forest. Back at the valley, Reggie and Brad bowed to each other, walked back a number of paces and began their duel.

Reggie and Brad started by shouting stunning spells. They collided with each other and fizzled out. Brad shouted a flipper hex, which Reggie easily deflected with a shield charm. While Brad was dodging his returned spell, Reggie pulled back his hand to conjure a ball of suppressed, intense wind. Reggie was surprised that it appeared in his hand in hardly a second when it never was that fast before. He launched it at Brad and connected with his chest launching him back four feet from where he stood. Dust came up and blinded Brad's figure.

'I guess the adrenaline of this fight got me to bring my power out faster.' Reggie thought.

The dust wasn't disappearing so Reggie concentrated and had the wind blow hard to remove the dust. When it passed, Brad was nowhere. Where was Brad? Reggie went over to that spot with his wand pointed out and saw that there was a hole dug there. Reggie then felt a force hit him in the back, which made him fly off his feet. Brad released a ball of water energy at his friend and then shouted "_Giaranshi_!" The spell hit Reggie's front while on the ground and the front side of his robes on his upper body section turned to stone pinning him down. Brad started moving toward him and Reggie concentrated and turned into his eagle form canceling out the Stone Spell. He flew up and avoided the stunning spells that Brad started throwing into the air after him. He flapped hard to avoid them but Brad was starting to become too accurate for comfort.

Brad tried as hard as he could to stun Reggie but he was too small to get a direct hit. He was also very fast in the air but Brad wasn't backing down. He extended his left hand out. He started launching water jets from them while he shouted stunning spells with the wand in his right hand. It was obvious that Reggie wouldn't be able to keep out of dodging every attack forever. Reggie dipped himself down and dived at Brad. Brad wasn't shaken. He kept up his attacks on his bird friend. Reggie then morphed back into himself at mid-air and shouted "_Petrificus Totalis_!" The spell came hurling at Brad and he was hit. However, as the spell hit him, a last jet of water was launched and hit Reggie right up and his feet causing him to spin in the air. Brad fell with his back to the ground while Reggie came hurling to the ground. He couldn't cushion his fall and ended up hitting it chest first. Luckily, he wasn't too far up or it could have broken something, Reggie just had a good deal of pain. He lifted his wand and pointed it at Brad's form and weakly muttered the counter spell releasing Brad. Brad ran to his friend, lifted him up and moved his arm over his neck and helped him back to a part of the outer castle walls that had a small hidden passage that led to the tunnels.

(---)

Tyler and Jacke were taking more...bigger approaches. They both decided that they should train together every training second. Reggie and Brad did train together too but they did it every once in a while. Tyler and Jacke started to duel each other and practice targeting with their spells. They counted these practice sessions to their competitive streaks so that they would be better motivated to improve. So far, Jacke was coming behind with 33 while Tyler had passed him with 37 wins. However, when it came to shooting elements and targets they set up for them to practice, Jacke was in his prime. His fireballs and streaks where faster and more accurate plus destructive then Tyler's lightning bolts and orbs but he wasn't far behind. Tyler even came up with a crazy method of training for the both of them.

"We're going to what?" Jacke said as they were walking down from their Arithmancy class one Thursday and were heading for Care of Magical Creatures.

"We're going to try practice dueling with Basil."

"Basil? Tyler, in case you haven't noticed, I don't speak your language so how could I possibly duel the way you do with your spiny friends," he said in code so that they won't have trouble hearing each other in whisper.

"Relax Jacke. I've got it worked out for us. Trust me. You do, don't you?"

"Honestly, shouldn't you know the answer to that now?"

They went off to Care of Magical Creatures and they learned what was in the crate that Hagrid had carried off. He was right; it was their next lesson, Fairies. Small little creatures that looked like miniature women in dresses but had clear wings.

(---)

The following day, Tyler and Jacke both bid their friends and fellow seekers an early goodnight. They planned to go down to the Slytherin Chamber in the early morning instead at the late hours of night so they wanted extra sleep. They both got weird and curious looks from their housemates but they explained to Reggie and Brad that they wanted to train. At around 4 o'clock, both Tyler and Jacke made their way out of their beds and headed for the out of order Girl's Bathroom. They used their animagus forms to sneak into the tunnels leading into the bathroom itself.

By now, all four of the seekers knew their way around since they used that time to navigate through them and train in moving around more in their animal states too.

When both of the two adventurous seekers got to the same bathroom, Tyler went to the sinks and hissed the "Open" command. They slid down the familiar pipe and made their way to the Chamber doors. Once inside, they made their way towards the giant statue of Salazar Slytherin.

"Tyler," Jacke started as they made their way to it. "What exactly did you have in mind when you said about training with Basil anyway?"

"Well, Reggie did say that we had to be best prepared for anything so I thought that fighting against a big creature might be one. You never know what is guarding that potion and if it really is guarding something so powerful then it won't be easy."

"Good point...wait a second, you never answered my question," he said narrowing his eyes at his friend.

Tyler never answered since they luckily got to the foot of the statue and he started the chant to open it up. The long basilisk guardian slithered out of the hole and Jacke closed his eyes immediately.

"_Basil_," hissed Tyler. "_Don't let your power in your eyes hurt my human friend that's beside me_," he commanded.

"_Yessss massster_," Basil replied.

"It's safe to look now," Tyler informed his Gryffindor friend while he went over and stood next to the giant serpent.

"Okay, now what's this training that you had in mind?"

"Simple Jacke." He then turned around and brandished his wand. "You're going to duel against Basil."

"What?!!!" he echoed in the big chamber. "I'm going to fight him!!!! NO WAY!!!!"

"Relax Jacke. I'll tell Basil to not land any killing blows to you. He's bound to serve me to the fullest of my wishes, remember? I'll make sure this stays on the spell level."

Jacke seemed to be weighing his choices. 'Dueling against something as big and strong as Basil alone. Well...it would be a great way to test how much I've come along. I've only really dueled Tyler, Reggie and Brad with these powers. If I fight Basil, then I could see if I'm on the right track.'

"All right, I'll face him," he said after a while.

"Good!" He turned to Basil. "_Basil, you're going to face my friend here. I just want you to use physical attacks and be on your spine in dodging his attacks. Under no circumstances are you to perform anything that would seriously hurt or kill him_."

"_Yes Tyler_."

'Good, he remembered.'

Jacke went a few feet back while Basil raised himself tall to face his opponent on his master's signal. Tyler raised his hand and then brought back down in force starting the match.

Jacke launched the stunning spell that Tyler showed him last term and was Tyler was amazed at how he launched it like he's done it for years. Tyler commanded Basil to duck or go down since snakes couldn't do that and charge in closer to the ground. Jacke turned into a lion and ran to his right to avoid Basil's tackle. He then quickly changed back to his human self and launched a Lumos Spell right at the direction of Basil's eyes. Jacke thought he was on the right track until he felt a force hit him at the side and push him back several feet. When he got to his feet, he saw that Tyler had his hand extended and it became obvious that he conjured an orb of thunder that he launched at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Jacke, do you really believe that I would allow you to defeat Basil? He's my fighting partner and we parselmouths protect our partners as they protect us in parselduels. My dad and grandpa taught me that this shows my respect to our natural friends."

"Okay then," Jacke said raising his wand. "_Averte Stature_!"

His spell went for Tyler but then a big green figure slithered in and took the front of the attack. Jacke stepped back quickly as Basil regained himself from moving a bit from the spell. Tyler told him to try and head tackle him again and Basil went for him. Jacke had to jump to roll out of the way.

"_Bind him_!" Tyler commanded.

Basil charged in, taking advantage of Jacke trying to get back on his feet, and surrounded him. Jacke was started to breathe out desperate and worried breaths. Even though he knew that Basil couldn't seriously hurt him against Tyler's wishes, he still looked very terrifying when he was engaged in combat. Basil closed the space and had Jacke tightly wrapped around his waist.

"Jacke, do you give up?!" Tyler yelled. "I can't see how you're going to get yourself out of this one mate."

Jacke didn't answer. He tried to move him arm with his wand still clenched and point it toward Basil's face. He pulled and tugged until he got enough of his arm free to attack. "_Lumos_!" he yelled and the sudden light caused Basil to react by releasing him and trying to get away from the directed light. Jacke tried not to waste time, he charged at Tyler. Tyler went and used the Silence Charm but Jacke kept dodging them and kept going for Tyler.

'If I get Tyler, then he can't guide Basil in attacking me.'

Jacke focused on his target and let fire form in his hand making Tyler panic. He shouted a spell that he hoped would only knock Jacke out cold. "_Inferro Cracke_!" The familiar whip of crimson red flame came out of his wand, which he swished at Jacke's direction. Jacke fell to his knees, sliding, to dodge the incoming attack and released the suppressed flame ball that he conjured. It hit Tyler and made him fly back and land in one of the pools of water.

Basil continued his assault and tried to whack Jacke away with his tail. Jacke barely dodged the first wave when Basil sent the tail back in the other direction connecting with Jacke's figure. Jacke landed on the floor clutching his stomach as Basil towered over him. Jacke could see the shadow of Basil's form in front of him. Jacke felt like he didn't have the strength to be able to dodge another physical attack. He instead pointed his wand behind him and yelled "_Stupefy_!" hoping that it would connect and then braised himself for a counter from Basil. However, the counter never came. The spell hit Basil's head and he stumbled on the ground, completely paralyzed.

Tyler picked himself up from the pool of water that he fell in and looked to see that Jacke had defeated both him and Basil in this fight. Tyler realized that had he been serious from the start, then he might've beaten Jacke. When the battle started, he just foolishly observed it and didn't get involved until Basil was about to lose. He just sat back and let his snake do all the work and he realized that his overconfidence was his downfall. Even though Jacke hadn't battled this way before wasn't an excuse to underestimate his abilities and be overconfident as to not be fully involved or completely on guard.

He released Basil from the Stunning Spell and told him to go back to the statue and rest inside. He then lifted Jacke up and helped him back up the entrance and through the tunnels to the Gryffindor Common Room. They entered through a small hole behind a wooden chair and were the size of kittens. Tyler never saw the Gryffindor Common Room before and thought that it had a nice warm feeling of knighthood. He left Jacke on one of the couches before he transformed again and went back to the Slytherin common room through the tunnels. After he got back in, he went to take a shower and change into new drier clothes right before Matt woke up to begin the day.

(---)

**End of Chapter 12**

Nightlit: Happy to hear from you again. I was afraid you've forgotten my story. I can't wait for the chapter that you said that you're working on.

SwollenFridge: You asked a good bit of questions. I wish I could answer them all but I can't without spoiling everything. I can say that yes, Laura Collins will be a bigger character soon. To give you a little spoil, every new friend that every seeker meets will become bigger soon. How?, you'll have to wait.

Author Notes:

Well, there go the seekers. A nice good bit of hardcore training. I thought that I should show some aspects of the training that they're doing to be ready for seeking the Potion of Fecundity. You might be getting impatient on when they're going to actually start on that but two months will go by fast and I should have them on in about 2 chapters at least so just hold on since we're almost there.

Review!


	13. Suspicions and Quidditch

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 13: Suspicions and Quidditch

Jacke woke up from his unconscious state to find that he was back in the common room. He thought he heard the sound of a door creaking but saw no one and thought it was his imagination. He went off to the showers to get himself cleaned up and couldn't wait to have warm water hit his sore body.

Brad woke up when the sound of his housemates woke him up. He wanted to stay in bed because he was not only a little sore but sleepy from being out so late. However, he was hungry so he decided to have breakfast and then go back to sleep later.

Reggie saw that he had a bruise on his left cheek when he looked in the mirror. He quickly focused and covered it up. He was thankful for his own little gift. However, it didn't stop the pain but at least it didn't draw attention and questions. He made his way down to the common room so he could be on his way for breakfast.

Matt went over to Tyler's bed and shook him to wake up and threw a pillow at him to hurry along.

Every single one of the seekers made their way to the Great Hall with their bodies aching from the events of the few previous hours. Reggie was trying very hard not to put so much force on his stomach, Brad thought that his back was going to fly out of his own body, Tyler arms were feeling heavy from lifting Jacke through the chamber and Jacke whole body ached from the physical attack that he suffered a few hours prior. They all could tell that they were hurting and nodded off to each other that it was best if they get a break from one another to heal themselves.

"Thank Merlin it's Saturday. I don't think I'll be able to handle if we had classes," Jacke said sitting down next to Max and Jennifer.

"Why, what's wrong?" Jennifer asked with a face of curiosity and concern.

"I just ache, that's all Jenny."

"Ache, you haven't done anything to get you to ache."

"Forget it. Can't we talk about something else Max. What do you have two have planned for today for instance."

"Well, I was planning on doing some flying today. Care to join me Jacke?"

"No, I don't think I'll be able to. I have to rest."

"Jacke, you're starting to scare me. What were you doing?"

"Nothing Jenny," he said quickly. "Besides, what makes you think that I was anyway. I just ache."

"Funny, seeing as how Max saw you on the couch all sweaty."

Jacke turned to Max and saw that he was waiting for why this was so. They both had suspicious expressions on their faces and seemed to be waiting for Jacke to answer. Jacke turned back to his food and tried to get himself concentrated on eating it but still felt his friends' eyes on him and then he cracked.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you after breakfast."

Then Jacke turned his attention back on his food and tried to ignore the feeling of eyes and the feeling at his sides.

"Now Jacke, what are you hiding?" Max said as they sat by the lake after they all finished breakfast.

"Look, me and Tyler were just dueling and I got hexed pretty hard."

"You and Solemn were dueling? Were you dueling at the brink of dawn? Was that why you were all sweaty?" Jennifer asked with a shocked voice.

"Calm down Jenny. Okay, I admit it. We were up early but that was because we just wanted to duel without attracting the rest of the castle."

"Did the two of you duel because you had a fight?" Max asked.

"No, no, it wasn't anything like that. It was just a practice duel for training. Something exciting to do for fun. That's all."

"Fun?"

"I don't think fun is when you could barely get through sitting without clenching your side for 2 minutes while you sit and talk," Jennifer said as she pointed to where Jacke's arm was holding his left side.

"Look, just drop it Jenny okay? We just wanted to see how strong we could be and we got a little carried away. Really, it's nothing. A good day's rest and I should feel fine."

Jacke saw that Max and Jennifer were still looking at him, almost piercing him for answers so he got up and headed out for his dormitory to get some more rest. He let himself fall on his bed and tried to sleep off the aching in his body from his training battle with Tyler and Basil.

(---)

Reggie seemed like he was going to collapse as he was finishing his breakfast. That last landing was really a devastating hit. He may have won the duel but his drastic thinking got him to have this pain as the reward. He couldn't believe that he thought so recklessly in order to win. It was as if he wasn't even thinking at all. He was thinking on how he could've been so stupid that he didn't hear as his friend Laura was trying to get his attention.

"Reggie, hello, are you there?" Reggie only heard her very faintly until she shook him and finally snapped him out of his stupor.

"Hm, what?"

"I've only been trying to talk to you for the past two minutes. What's wrong?"

"Nothing Laura. I've just been thinking about something that's all."

"What? You could tell me."

"No, I really couldn't."

"Why not?"

"It's somewhat a private matter between me and my friends."

"You four are always so mysterious. I can remember when you first got together. Everyone was always wondering and watching you guys to find out what you all do but after a while, they just plain gave up since you seem to do nothing but study together, or play games on the grounds and talk quietly together. What can be so important that you're forgetting that you have quidditch practice later."

"What?" Reggie said with his attention completely on Laura now.

"Now he remembers. That's what I've been trying to ask you. I wanted to know if what time you were going to be finished so we could work on our potions work. You promised you check over my Astronomy and History of Magic work if I helped check your potions work."

"I'm sorry, I completely forgot about practice. I can't practice today."

"Why not? The match against Hufflepuff is two and a half weeks away. Your captain isn't going to be happy with you. Especially since you couldn't catch the snitch in your last match against them."

"I feel very stiff and I can't move around. I can't focus today so that snitch could fly circles around me. I'll have to tell Captain Sagat that I had a tough night."

"Why? Don't tell me that you and Claudia Ments decided to have your date early? I saw her in my dormitory and she did seem a little happy," Laura said raising her eyes in a teasing way.

"Ha Ha, no we didn't if you must know. I was just up studying and I overdid it with the wand movements. That's all I swear." Reggie held his hands up so to confirm his innocence but Laura didn't seem to shrug it off.

"You're hiding something?"

"What makes you say that? How am I hiding something? What have I got to hide?" 'Besides the fact that I can conjure and manipulate air and wind, can become an eagle and that I'm friends with an ancestor of one of the founders that happened to be a parselmouth and that the other seekers and I are training for the most powerful potion ever imagined,' he added as an afterthought.

"Oh, just the fact that you keep squinting your eyes. I can always tell when people are lying or nervous when they blink their eyes a lot as they talk."

"Well, then I have to say that you're off this time." Reggie turned and avoided his friend's gaze so that she couldn't see the nervous gleam in his eyes. He focused his attention on memorizing facts of the potions that would appear on their upcoming quiz for Professor Reckler and hoped that Laura had stopped looking at him for an answer.

(---)

Brad was feeling so sleepy that he was barely paying attention to what he was doing at the breakfast table. Hawkster had to repeatedly snap him out of his sleepy stupor.

"Brad," Hawkster said snapping his fingers in front of him.

"Hmm, what?"

"You were about to dip your bacon in your orange juice. What's with you this morning? You look like you didn't sleep a wink last night. You were snoring like a wild bear last night so I know that you had to sleep."

"Err, I'm just very tired today."

"Why didn't you stay in bed then?"

"I was tired but I was also hungry. After this, I'm heading straight for my pillow."

"Anyway, you will be ready for today right?"

"Today?"

"Yeah, we were going to practice on the pitch after Ravenclaw has the early afternoon spot. You didn't forget did you?"

"Oh right. Sorry, I'm so tired that I can hardly remember what color is my hair. I should be okay after I get some sleep."

"I hope so Brad. You haven't failed Hufflepuff in catching the snitch. You beat all three of your friends and we're all hoping you'll do it again. You've been undefeated so far and we want to see it again. You know that Hufflepuff rarely gets any attention."

"Don't worry about me. Just worry about that quaffle that you have to get into the goals."

Hawkster took a look at him after he said that and before he could turn back to his food, he doubled his head back at Brad's direction. "Brad, what's that bruise on your hand?"

Brad looked and saw that he had a clear blue-ish bruise on the front of his hand that he never noticed until just now.

"Oh, I must've gotten that from the last training session."

"No, it looks fresh. We haven't trained for the past week."

"Oh, then...I guess it's from...my duel."

"Your duel? With who? Did a slytherin jump you?"

"No, no. I was having a practice duel with my friend Reggie and I guess I got this from that duel."

"Why were you dueling? What do you mean practicing?"

"Well..." Brad looked around to see if there was anyone listening before he lowered his head and voice. "I'll tell you but you have to give me your word that you won't say anything about it to nobody."

"Yeah, sure, what?"

Brad went into an explanation into finding out about a secret potion hidden in the forbidden forest and the seekers' attempts to train for getting it.

"That's about the whole layout."

"Wow, that potion sounds amazing. The power of creation completely in a vile. It's...it's like whoever gets their hands on it become gods."

"Yeah I know. I hardly believed it myself when I first heard of it. Remember, you promised not to tell about this."

"Don't worry. I won't let you down. Brad, you never did tell me how or where you four found out about all this."

"That part, I can't tell you. That's a little too secret for me to tell you. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Well, I guess it's okay. You did tell me this much and I guess that's enough if you look at it."

(---)

Tyler only knew how to dip his fork into the bowl and chew the food he got. He was so worn out and tired that he couldn't even make out the people around him. It was as if his vision blurred completely away; everyone looked like melted away colors of the background. He kept this up until he felt a tap at his cheek and shook his head to find Matt, Morgan, Sam, and Regulus near him as the rest of the Great Hall came into focus. It seemed that the one who gave him that slap was Morgan.

"Tyler?"

"Hmm, what?"

"Good, we started to think that you were dead. What's with you this morning? You look like you were having the life drained out of you."

"Oh, I just had a rough night."

"What? But, you went to sleep earlier than any of us and you were dead asleep this before you woke up. Unless you weren't asleep," he said narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"Oh come on. I'm just exhausted. Really."

"Really? Then how come your hair was so shiny like you just had it wet?"

This made Sam and Regulus raise their eyebrows in response and seemed to be waiting for Tyler's answer.

"None of your business."

"Tyler...what were you doing?" Morgan asked looking curious, and a little apprehensive.

"Tylerrrrr, is there something that we should know? Like why you were limping a little on your way to the table," Regulus said staring into Tyler's eyes.

"What?" he said out of nervousness. "Limping?"

"Yes, I shrugged it off when I saw it but now that Matt pointed this out I want to hear your explanation."

"Yeah, why don't you explain yourself," Sam said joining in on the interrogation.

"Look, it's nothing. Besides, it's none of your business. Butt out of it."

"Tyler, we're only asking because you're worrying us. Come on, tell us what's wrong," Morgan said a little comforting and a little forcefully like she was trying to be nice but couldn't help being aggressive and pushy.

"I was just taking an early shower. I slipped and I twisted my ankle. That's it."

"Why would you get up and take a shower just so you could go right back into bed?" Sam asked like it was crazy which Tyler realized it was.

"I don't know," he said shrugging. "I guess I'm weird today."

"Today?" Regulus asked narrowing his eyes with humor causing everyone to laugh.

"Very funny. Very, very funny." 'At least they stopped questioning me.' He thought thankfully.

(---)

After that grueling morning, one week had come and gone. Throughout the week, the seekers continued with their training. It seemed that all four of them had perfected their conjuring powers flawlessly. They could release their conjured elements like it was the natural thing to do. Their spells have also been getting accurate and handy. Tyler even showed them his Fire Whip Spell. He showed them the incantation and how to use it. He even showed them how you could use it without even speaking the spell but the whip that were conjured were always shorter and lacked the control of the effect you wanted the whip to be. Reggie and Brad thought it seemed like a good spell to practice with but Jacke didn't want to practice it. He thought it looked a little too dark for him to use so he passed it off. Brad's transfiguration talent was starting to become in handy. Whenever he had a practice wands only duel, which they called a duel without their other powers, he would transfigure objects to absorb or block spells to protect himself. Jacke's charms were effective and strong. His shield charm especially had become very fast to come up so he was good at rebounding small spells back at his opponents. Reggie said that he was working on potions that he thought would be helpful but he didn't say what they were since he wanted them to be a surprise. He also was spending his time researching anything which he thought might be good for guarding valuables and Brad was helping him whenever he could. Tyler and Jacke helped on occasion with reading up on creatures and obstacles meaning that they did it only when Reggie cornered them about it. Overall, they seemed to be progressing well. They felt like they would be ready for when the time came or at least they hoped they would.

(---)

It was a new Saturday, which was the day of the next match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Also, it turned out that the next Hogsmeade trip was the following day. When people's minds weren't on quidditch then they were on Hogsmeade. People were ecstatic over it since it was coming close to Christmas break, which was in 2 weeks. At this moment in time however, Reggie and Brad were in their respective changing rooms suiting up for the match. Reggie was listening to their captain Sagat on his tactics that would be best to use based on Hufflepuff's playing style. Brad was getting Hawkster to relax since it was his first match and Brad was eager to get back to the field after a long summer away from flying. Moments later, they found themselves walking on the pitch to begin the game.

Tyler and Jacke were in the stands ready to cheer for their friends. However, unlike their past games where the only ones joining them were Regulus, Morgan and occasionally Matt, there were now Sam, Max and Jennifer too. Although, Sam was on the far side of Tyler's left and Max and Jennifer were on Jacke's right. It seemed that Sam and Max especially didn't think it was comforting to sit close since they were quidditch rivals playing the same position on opposite teams especially theirs. Jennifer was choosing to try and pretend that the slytherins weren't there if they chose to say or do anything insulting or whatever and just enjoy the game. Morgan also was feeling a little negligent when she teased Jacke about her bludger attack but she did congratulate him for dodging it the way he did. Tyler and Jacke expected this sort of behavior from the addition of Sam, Max and Jennifer but Tyler and Jacke weren't going to try and force them to like each other on their account.

"Hey Jacke, who do think will get the snitch, Reggie or Brad?"

"Well...I'd say Brad. He beat all three of us to it last year and I think it might be him again. Reggie hasn't caught the snitch yet remember? We all beat him."

"Yeah, maybe Brad might win. Maybe luck will get it's way with Reggie though. Only one way to find out."

The teams took off down on the pitch and began the match. After about 20 minutes of plays, it seemed that the Ravenclaw captain, Jasper Sagat, had made the right calls on preparing for Hufflepuff's tactics. Hufflepuff had only made 4 successful shots while Ravenclaw had made 15. Reggie was impressed at Sagat's planning abilities and hoped that he could be that good someday. Brad saw that his team was in trouble. He looked and saw that Hawkster was doing okay but the chasers were overwhelmed at the defensive strategy that the Ravenclaw team took to stop their scoring attempts. It seemed that the only way to have Hufflepuff win was for Brad to catch the snitch soon enough to crown Hufflepuff the winners. But finding the snitch was proving to be hard. The weather wasn't helping in the slightest with the big dark clouds and the cold air blowing strongly. Reggie and Brad's attention was divided on finding the snitch and shivering from the cold. They would kill for Jacke's ability to be able to warm the air around him with his fire power not that Jacke could do that in a match but it would be great nevertheless. Reggie went close to Brad to keep a better eye on him and look for the snitch until another gust of cold wind blew by.

"This wind is ridiculous. How are we supposed to find the snitch before becoming ice sculptures?"

"Reggie, come down," Brad said from afar. Then something in his mind clicked. "If I were you then **I'd** do something."

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you really forgotten what you could do for the past two years?"

Then Reggie could've slapped himself. He was a wind elemental. He could have the wind isolate itself from the area. He wasn't too strong in getting the wind to stop blowing all over the stadium but he could stop it from blowing in his area. He mentally had the wind keep away in a little over a seven-yard radius since that was the best he could do. Brad felt the wind stop and he started to focus extra hard to look out for the snitch. With the wind gone, it seemed that the field became clearer to Reggie. He sharpened his focus and tried to look for at least a glint of the snitch. It was hard since he had to focus on keeping the wind at bay and look for the snitch was only having a small fraction of his attention. He then made the decision for Brad to look for the snitch for him so that the snitch wouldn't cause him to lower his power grip. He had for half a second thought that maybe this was a little illegal, that he was cheating by controlling the environment factor of the match but he shrugged it off and would have to worry about that later.

Brad still hadn't found the snitch and his team was looking like it would suffer an inevitable defeat. Ravenclaw was now at 200 while Hufflepuff had 80 points. It was getting harder to find that snitch because even though Reggie was keeping the wind in their area away, the wind was still raging everywhere else and the snitch's flight would definitely be affected. Also, it was still cold because even though Reggie kept the cold wind away from them, the overall factor was that it was still cold even without the wind. Not too mention the fact that there were still big dark clouds blocking out the sun's light and making the snitch more near invisible.

Tyler and Jacke were starting to worry that Reggie and Brad had numbed being so still in this cold and windy December weather. They were also starting to cool up even though they had on gloves and winter cloaks. They hoped that this match would hurry.

Reggie kept his eyes closed and focused on keeping the wind around him to be weak and soft. He had his ears open to Brad so that he could tell when he moved for the snitch. Then something was happening; Reggie was starting to feel the air currents and could start to feel the movements of the other players, bludgers, and the quaffle. He never focused on manipulating wind for this long before and he guessed that he just discovered another plane of his power. Then he felt something very small in the air about 40 yards away in his direction- The snitch. He didn't see it but he was sure it was there. When he caught it in his sights after he opened his eyes, he leaned forward and went off in that direction. Brad felt Reggie move away and went after him and stared at Reggie's path until he too caught sight of the snitch. Reggie and Brad pushed straight through the two bludgers gracefully and also avoided a crowd of the chasers trying to steal the quaffle back from the Ravenclaw ones. Then something unexpected happened; the snitch looked like it was pulled in one direction like it was a feather in the wind. Reggie and Brad also started feeling the powerful gusts of cold wind again. It appeared that Reggie had lost his concentration the moment he went for the snitch and now he couldn't manipulate the wind to not blow at him anymore while he was moving for the snitch. Brad's hands started to feel like rock but he kept going for the snitch. The two seekers dived for where the snitch was released from the wind's power. The two of them extended their arms and looked into each other's eyes to each see a glint of competitiveness in their eyes. They looked back at the snitch and then made motions to grab it.

Tyler and Jacke looked to see if they could tell who caught the snitch. They could barely make out their friends' faces. But after they saw Brad's surprised look and Reggie smile then they automatically knew.

The commentator Phil Villar loudly announced his house team's victory. "Reginald Falkner has caught the snitch. Ravenclaw wins at an astonishing 360 to 100!"

Back at the stands, Tyler and Jacke bid farewell to their respective house comrades and went off to find Reggie and Brad.

"Seems Reggie broke Brad's clean record."

"Well I hope Brad's not taking it too hard. He couldn't keep this up against us forever."

"I have a feeling he'll be okay Jacke."

"How would you guess?"

"Instinct."

They arrived to see that Reggie and Brad were already changed and were taking off to the side. They seemed neutral so they joined them.

"Hey Reggie. Great catch there."

"Thanks Jacke."

"I'm sure that should give you a more appealing image for your date tomorrow with Claudia Ments huh?" Tyler said nudging him.

"Oh shut up."

"Reggie here broke my undefeated record remember that too. I'm sure his date will be extra friendly after that."

"Yeah, if he slips something about his ability with the wind then I'm sure that he'll get three for the price of one," Jacke said joining the teasing.

Then the three of them took off laughing and running from a tempted Reggie with his wand raised high chasing after them with yells of "Come back here!" or "Wait until I catch you!" Reggie even let out wind orbs to trip them up but that made them run and laugh harder at how they got under Reggie's skin when they fired their own element orbs to cancel them out.

"Hello there," a voice called out making them all freeze up.

(---)

**End of Chapter 13**

Author Notes:

Well there goes another one. Who has caught them using their powers like that? They shouldn't have been so reckless. Will it be over? Can they still continue their plan? Will Reggie first date go along good? You'll have to wait.

Review and it might not be a long one.


	14. Tyler's Growing Family

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 14: Tyler's Growing Family

The seekers were completely paralyzed with surprise, shock and fear. Standing there with narrowed eyes and crossed arms was their own Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Squall.

"Proffffesssorr," Reggie stuttered.

"Err, this isn't what it looks like," Brad said extending his hands like he was pushing something.

'I can't believe that's the best they can come up with,' Tyler thought rolling his eyes and shaking his head in his hand.

"Professor Squall, we can explain everything," Jacke said stepping up.

"That won't be necessary Mr. Walker. From what I saw, I'd say that I saw four pre-teens playing with elemental powers," he said crossing his arms making the seekers flinch with fright. This almost made them grip their wands.

This wasn't good at all. One of the teachers saw them messing around with their powers. They couldn't do anything like the way they dealt with Arnold because not only was Squall younger than he was but he is a trained Auror and four students wouldn't have a chance against a good Auror like him.

"I mean, Tyler, you of all people should know better. I can just imagine the look on Simon's face if he finds out," he said shaking his head in amusement.

'Huh?' thought all the seekers at different tones and times. Something didn't fit right here.

"What?" Tyler said.

"It's best if we not talk here in the middle of the grounds. Let's head for my office to talk, all four of you."

After Squall said this, the seekers still didn't move because they were worried of what was going to be waiting for them. Tyler gripped his wand under his robes, Brad had his full attention to Squall hands to check if they go to his wand, Reggie was trying to calm himself down without taking his eyes of their defense teacher and Jacke moved closer to Tyler just in case Squall pulled an "Arnold" or something.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to attack you," Squall said after it became clear that he was aware of their resistance. "I just want to talk to you four and especially you Tyler on how careless you are," he said pointing to Tyler.

They started walking together, following Professor Squall to his office in silence. Tyler thought back and saw that playing around with their elements in plain sight was a downright stupid act. Of course they would be caught and now they were paying for it. But, something about Squall was saying that he wouldn't be in any trouble at all. He knew that he heard Squall say his father's name and he was talking about how his father would react if he knew of his carelessness. Did Squall really know his father?

When they got to his office, Squall shut the door and went to his desk. Reggie pulled out his wand from his wand holster.

"Err, Professor, would it be alright if I put a silence charm on the door?"

"No, go right on ahead Mr. Falkner."

After Reggie soundproofed the door, there was a bit more silence. Squall was bouncing his fingers of each other on his desk looking at them. The seekers tried not to move too much and each tried concentrating on the feel of their hands gripping the cuff of their robes.

"Okay, first let me tell you that your secret is safe with me," Squall said finally. "I have no intention of telling this to anyone."

"Why?" Brad said.

"Simply because I would never dream of hurting my family."

'Huh?' thought Tyler.

"What do you mean family Professor," Jacke said narrowing his eyebrows.

"Well, I mean Tyler here of course."

"What?" said the seekers simultaneously.

"Calm down," Squall said motioning his hands for them to relax. "I guess you would be surprised Mr. Solemn or should I say Mr. Slytherin."

At that moment, Tyler's eyes could've shot out of his sockets. Squall knew who he was. Jacke looked from Tyler to Squall without really thinking at all. Reggie just looked at Squall and started breathing a little too quickly; he still had his wand in his hand and he gripped it more tightly. Brad made motion for his wand pulled it out at Squall.

"I thought I said to relax boys. Tyler, didn't you wonder how I knew your dad's name?"

"Err," Tyler said after regaining himself. "Yeah, I did," he said softly.

"I know your father because he and I were friends when we were at school."

"You were?" Tyler said shocked.

"Yes, he and I were in slytherin house together. In the same year in fact. I was his best friend for many years and over time, he trusted me with his most greatest secret. I was even the best man at your father and mother's wedding. When I first saw you this term, I knew you were their son. You have your father's hair, face and your voice even sounded like him when he was your age."

"Wait, you also said that Tyler was part of your family. If you were his dad's friend then what do you mean?" said Reggie.

"Well, I did catch a glimpse of Tyler here when he was just born. Tyler, your parents made me your godfather. You're my godson."

Tyler looked down at his shoes thinking about what he just learned. Professor Squall was his…godfather? If he was then why didn't he hear about him until now? He couldn't believe what he just heard. Yet somehow, he knew it was true. He felt something warm and comforting every time he was around Squall like he was…someone he could count on. No, he knew that Squall wasn't lying to him, he felt this connection ever since he first met them but he couldn't help but have questions. Unfortunately, Jacke beat him to it.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Squall pulled out one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out a picture. In that picture were himself and a man and woman with a baby that Tyler recognized as his parents.

"But?" Tyler started but Squall cut him off.

"Tyler, listen, I know you must have questions but they'll have to wait a little bit. I still have to talk to the four of you. Now, you three," he said indicating Jacke, Reggie and Brad, "from what I saw after I said Tyler's last name, I take it that you already know his secret, am I right?"

"Yeah, that's not a problem is it?" Jacke said a little defiantly.

"Jacke! I'm really sorry Professor."

"It's okay Mr. Falkner. Wait, is it okay if I call you by your first names as well now that we're in the same boat so to speak?" The three of them nodded their heads. "Okay, and no Jacke, that isn't a problem at all. From what I can see, I'd say that the three of you have been very loyal friends. I must say that you have quite a knack for finding friends Tyler. I figured that the four of you were very close seeing as how your friends even through all this house nonsense, but now I see you're all even closer friends than I thought."

"It's no big deal Professor," Reggie said crossing his arms.

"We're just your four ordinary band of friends," Brad said having his eyes look at the three of them.

"Yes, a band of friends that are careless in using powers in the middle of the day, at the middle of the grounds Brad," Squall said narrowing his eyes with a suddenly serious tone. "What if it wasn't me but another teacher or student who saw you. You all were lucky that I patrol around here this much so I was able to find you quickly."

"Why do you patrol around all the time?" Jacke asked.

"Well, I did tell you all that I am an auror and was here this year as a favor to Dumbledore correct? Aside from teaching defense, I was also brought here to keep an eye out for trouble, especially after the last two teachers in this position were either traumatized or disappeared without a trace. But that's beside the point, the point is that you four should show more sense and not recklessly show off your powers like that. I can see you're all nice boys and after knowing Tyler's father, I don't judge by position or abilities but not everyone is in the same boat. Promise me that you four will be okay," Squall said twiddling his thumbs looking at them with a very disappointed glance.

The four seekers looked back at how they were acting at the field and were ashamed of themselves even if Squall didn't scold them. They all nodded still looking at the floor ashamed and embarrassed at the same time.

"Excuse me Jacke, Reginald, Brad, could you please give me and Tyler a moment alone. We'll continue our discussions in the morning but your friend and I have a few personal matters to discuss."

"It's okay, I understand," Brad said shaking his head and heading out the door.

"Okay, good day Professor," Reggie said taking his friend's example and leaving.

"Bye Professor Squall." Jacke then turned to his friend. "See you tomorrow mate." Then he left the office too.

Tyler stood there a little unsure of what to do or say to his godfather that he was had only known his true connection with only for the past few minutes.

"Err, Professor Squall…"

"Tyler, when we're alone try calling me Timothy. After all, I call you by your name when we're alone."

"Okay…Timothy…well, if you knew who I was all this time then why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, I admit that I was a little hesitant to tell you. I wanted to know you a little better outside a personal relationship first. I thought that I might be able to know you better that way. Would you have been yourself I had told you I was your godfather from the start?"

"Probably not. But…where have you been all this time? Why didn't I see you before this time?"

"Auror life. It's been very difficult lately what with your dad's nephew, your cousin running around causing trouble."

"You know about our connection with Voldemort?"

Tyler noticed that when he said his cousin's name, Squall flinched a little but shrugged it off.

"Yes, your father told me that as well. He told me almost everything."

"Well, if he told you almost everything then I guess I can trust you with anything. I still can't believe that you were told everything though."

"He didn't tell me out of the first hour we met. He started telling me these private things around our last year at Hogwarts. After I absorbed what he told me about his real identity then he started telling me more over the years. That's one thing I see that you don't share in common with your father, your sense of security."

"What do you mean? I trust my fellow seekers completely."

"Seekers huh? I thought you guys were a group together. I'm not here to scold you about telling your secret; actually, I think you made a wise choice with Reginald and Brad. When I spoke to them during the match and heard how they supported both you and Jacke. With Jacke, I have concerns about but seeing as how he acted here then I say that he's also someone you could trust completely."

"Why did you have doubts about Jacke? Is it about him being in Gryffindor?"

"To be honest, yes. With your father and I being in Slytherin, Gryffindors often didn't give us the impression that we could trust them."

"Jacke's trustworthy. He's my best friend and so are Reggie and Brad. We've already been through a lot together and they proved to me that I could trust them to the end."

"Well, I can see that you and your friends have been through a lot which is more that I want to talk about."

"What?"

"Tyler, I have a feeling that the powers that you and your friends were showing has something to do with your family's secret chamber under your house, am I correct?"

"You know about that too?"

"Of course, well, not right away. Your father was a lot more cautious then you appear to be. He gave me all this information a little at a time. He told me that there were a lot of powerful enchantments, charms and books in there and seeing as you're involved then I'd say it was a safe bet that that's where you all learned it from. I also take it that your father knows nothing about this huh?"

"Are you going to tell him?" Tyler said feeling his insides freeze at the prospect.

"No, it's not my place to tell him. I'll leave that to you. I understand your feelings on this and I'll just have to take your word on Jacke. If you truly believe that your secret is safe with him then I won't argue. Your father might say something different though."

Tyler chuckled a little to himself on how protective his dad could get but Tyler had his mind wander. Obviously, his godfather, which still felt strange for him to even think, had something against him trusting Jacke because of his house. He was in Slytherin when he went to school here and so Tyler guessed that he had troubles with Gryffindors like any Slytherin would give them problems right back.

"It was great for you telling me this. Is it okay to tell my father about you here?"

"Oh he already knows I'm here."

"He does?"

"Yeah, I owled him after my first week here. I told him how great you seemed to be and how I was looking forward to teaching you. He said that he hoped that if or when you found out about me that it would be good for you to know that you have another member of your family along with you. He also said that he's sorry he had to keep me a secret from you but he knew that you were smart enough to discover me on your own."

"He said that?" Tyler said amazed that his father had that much confidence in him.

"Hm hmm. Well, you should be off then. I guess I'll have to make up for all the Birthdays and Christmas' I missed. Although, you still have my old Silver Arrow with you."

"My broom used to be yours? But…my parents said…"

"They lied. They came to me earlier on your birthday before last and paid me a visit before they picked up your grandparents. They mentioned it was your birthday and so I couldn't pass it up. I told them to give you my old antique broom as your godfather's special repayment gift for missing you grow up all these years. They made up the collector story because they didn't feel it was right for you to know about a godfather that will hardly be around because of his duties. But I think it's the right time as any now."

Tyler was then walked out the door and wished a good day. The halls were still filled with sounds of the talks from the quidditch game an hour ago but Tyler had them all blocked out on his way to the Owlery for Pandy to make a delivery.

(---)

As the seekers walked from the office, they went off to their own spot in the library.

"Can you believe it? Squall's been Tyler's godfather this whole time," Brad said still shocked from it all.

"Tyler must be really surprised. Did you see the look on his face? I wonder what they're talking about?" Jacke said looking to the direction where Squall's office was.

"Probably catching up. I mean, they have about 13 years of catching up to do. Anyway, Squall did vouch us and he did it for good reason. We shouldn't have fooled around with our powers like that. I just hope Tyler's dad won't find out or Tyler would be really in for it."

"He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to tell his father. Squall will keep it a secret. I hope at least."

"Brad, sometimes you really are too trusting for your own good," Reggie said looking at his friend with annoyance. "Now, we have to be extra careful. Now that Squall knows about our connection with Tyler, we'll have to be extra secretive if we're going for the Potion in two weeks."

"Well, at least Tyler has an excuse to stay with us for the holidays right?"

"What do you mean Jacke?" Brad asked his friend.

"He can tell them that he wants to know his godfather better. Oh and guys,"

"Yeah," Brad and Reggie said together.

"Let's give Tyler some time alone tomorrow. If it were me than I would want to be alone to think about this."

"Well that is no problem. Remember, I have a date tomorrow during the next Hogsmeade trip with Claudia Ments so I'll be able to give him his space."

"Settle down Reggie," Brad said patting his shoulder, which earned him an elbow. "I guess I'll hang around with Hawkster during the trip unless you want to come with us Jacke."

"No, I'll be alright. I'll be with Jenny and Max."

(---)

With the startling revelation of Professor Squall and the impending journey for the Lost Potion of Fecundity, the two weeks went by miraculously fast. Reggie went on his first date and he had a good time. He started out a little stiff and nervous but was able to warm up as the date went on which was a shock since the weather was cold. Brad hung with Hawkster like he planned and had fun with chatting and playing around with him through the village. Jacke went with Jenny and Max trying to control his blush whenever Jenny looked at him or when Max caught him sneaking glances at her. Tyler decided not to go to Hogsmeade at all that time. Sam, Morgan, Matt and Regulus asked him why he wasn't going and he said that he felt tired and just wanted to take that Sunday just to rest. With the castle almost studentless except for second and first years, Tyler just sat quietly thinking about his godfather. He was driven from his lonely thoughts when Sam and his pal Lutz Napier went to try and talk to him. He didn't tell them exactly what was bothering him, just told them that he had family secret revealed to him that was a little overwhelming to think straight.

Over the next days, Tyler found it hard to focus in Defense classes. He would just look at Squall and not absorb one thing he said until something snapped his attention. The other seekers were also having this happen to them. They couldn't help seeing Squall not as their teacher but their friend's godfather. They did have out of class studying to help with keep from falling behind. Professor McGonagall soon passed around the list for people staying over the holidays and each of the seekers signed their names for the biggest adventure they've had yet.

When the day for people leaving for home started, all of the seekers stood with their house comrades and said their goodbyes. They wished them all a Merry Christmas and then started packing for in two days, they would face the unknown.

(---)

**End of Chapter 14**

Swollen Fridge: Good guess with who caught them in the fields. As for Tyler's rough style, he was taught to protect his snake partner no matter what it takes and so he forgot it was his friend he was fighting. Instead he just saw another enemy.

Tigercub15: Great to see you again. I was wondering where you where. What do you mean where did Morgan come from? She's been here since Chapter 12 of the last book.

I'm not a writer: Hello, I'm happy to see you love my stories. As for your analysis, you must've read my mind because you got a little too close for comfort on where I'm taking all this.

Author Notes:

Squall is Tyler's godfather! He has another member of his family. How will he play of and what will happen during the seeker's expedition into the portal to the potion? Wait and find out.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I hope you all did as well.

Review!


	15. Christmas and Obstacles

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three At Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 15: Christmas and Obstacles

Brad had set the alarm on his clock to ring a little early that morning. He could see some snow dropping onto anything that happened to be outside the window. He took three bottles and started to concentrate and pointed his finger close to the top. Water started to shoot out like a blue beam out of his finger and started to fill the bottles.

'Wait until the guys hear about this. Wait until they taste the best water that is on this earth,' he thought with pride.

He released the school owl that he borrowed last night with his packages and then settled to sleep at least for another hour.

(---)

Tyler was sleeping soundly when Chaos had woken him up. He slithered on his face, which made him very irritated at his animal familiar.

"_What_?!" he hissed annoyed.

"_Christmas Morning_," Chaos said simply.

Tyler looked at his clock and saw that it was half past 8 o'clock and remembered that today was indeed Christmas. That still didn't change the fact that Tyler was woken up so roughly. However, he forgot that he was unhappy with Chaos when he saw a pile of presents on his bed. He realized that he could make all the noise he wanted since he was the one of four slytherins left at Hogwarts and happened to be the only one in the 3rd year boy's dormitory.

He ripped open the wrapping from his first present that was from his newest friend Sam. It was a book on broom care, which Tyler really appreciated since he wanted to take care of his broom more then ever now. Matt's present was the next one which happened to be a good set of fine peacock feather quills. Morgan sent him a neatly designed silver picture frame that put a smile to Tyler's face. Attached was a note that simply said _For A Special Occasion_. He received a new set of green robes from Regulus complete with hood that seemed a little too big for him but he knew he would grow into them. Severus sent him a good pair of dragon hide boots to wear in snowy weather that Tyler decided to try on and found they were quite comfortable. His parents sent him a little package of homemade Christmas cookies and twenty galleons, which he placed in his moneybag. He continued opening presents and saw that Reggie sent him a new supply of hair gel, which Tyler was happy for since his old supply ran out two weeks ago. Jacke went on and sent him a box of Chocolate Frogs and Honeydukes Chocolate bars.

He then opened a shiny, light package that turned out to be from his godfather. He took his time unwrapping this one since it was the first thing that his godfather had ever given him that he was aware of him sending it. He opened it to find that it was a green colored robe, not unlike the green that Regulus sent, but Tyler saw after careful examination that they were combat robes. Tyler never had combat robes before and he cracked a very high, laughing smile.

'Wow, this…this is great. I can wear this when we go to for the potion tomorrow. I can't wait to show Jacke these,' he thought with glee.

His last present was one of the weirdest ones he ever received and it was from his fellow Hufflepuff seeker. Only then did he remember that yesterday, Brad was acting distracted; almost as if he couldn't stop thinking about something even when people shouted at him. He opened Brad's present to find that he bottle of water. He looked at the bottle thinking that Brad must've been playing a little joke until he read the note.

_Tyler, Jacke, Reggie,_

_You'll never guess what happened to me during my sleep the other night. I wanted to tell you yesterday but I felt today would've been a better time to tell it to you. I found out what the Element book back in our first year meant by "the earth accepting us." Last night I was visited by something claiming to be the spirit of the Earth. She…She looked like a beautiful woman surrounded by a light, warm glow. She said that she has been watching me and has deemed me worthy to have my powers over water unshackled. When I woke up, I thought it was a dream. Later when I did a little practice with my conjuring, I found myself wanting the water sphere in my hand to be real water instead of just looking like water and when I threw it at a rat I saw, instead of being pushed back by force, I saw that it became wet. I found out that it wasn't a dream at all and now it's starting to feel like…second nature to control if I want the water I conjure to be just regular force or be actual water. I conjured some water into a glass and tried some and it was some of the most purest, best tasting water I've ever had, so I decided to send you some of it. Try it._

_Merry Christmas_

_Brad_

Tyler eyes were threatening to leave his eye sockets after reading this. So Brad had been 'accepted' by the earth. He had always wondered what that meant but reading this was hardly helping his curiosity. He had to hear it from Brad himself to fully get it. He looked to the water and picked it up and examined it. It looked very clear and sparkly in the morning light. He uncapped the bottle and took a sip. It was seriously, the best water he had ever tasted. It had a feeling of great purity and freshness to it. He called Chaos over and let him have a little bit before he continued in emptying the bottle rapidly of the water.

'Wow, Brad sure has gotten remarkable. I wonder how his powers will change now. I guess I'll find out when I go see them.'

Tyler headed down to the common room intending on going to the Great Hall when he found Lutz Napier, Sam's second year friend, sitting alone looking sullen.

"Lutz, right?"

He looked up. "Err, yeah, hi."

"You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? It's Christmas."

"You lonely?" he said simply.

"No," he said rudely and quickly.

"Sorry. Miss Sam?"

Lutz didn't say anything. Tyler saw that Lutz was likely a person that kept to himself. He heard from Sam that he didn't really talk to anybody other than him most of the time. Tyler felt deep remorse since he knew how hard being alone could be. Lutz did talk to him occasionally but they weren't really even friends or acquaintances but Tyler still wanted to help him out.

"Forget it. You don't have to answer."

"Just…can you just leave me alone for a bit Solemn? I'm not in too good of a mood."

"Why not? Tell me maybe I could help."

"Why do you care? Don't you have somewhere to be with your out of house friends?"

"I care because you're a friend of one of my friends and you're miserable. That should be as good a reason as any."

He just looked down a little and Tyler saw that he had a letter folded in his hand. "My…my older brother just gave me some news that I don't really like, okay?"

"What kind of news?" This seemed familiar to him.

"Never you mind. Anyway, he's expecting me to help him out when I get old enough and I'm a little scared. Happy now."

Now this gave him a feeling that he did know what this was about. "Hey, careful before you take my head clean off! I'm only trying to help. You helped me."

"I did?"

"Yeah, you tried to help Sam in cheering me up last week."

"That was only because Sam was being stiff. He was worried about you so I decided to help him so he wouldn't be so depressed."

"What do you think I'm doing?" Tyler said with a confident smirk and raised eyebrows. This made Lutz chuckle a little bit. "Look, I've been a little through what you're going through believe me but don't give up on your brother. If you don't like it then try talking to him. And if you don't want to let's say "join up" make it clear to him why not. I'm not saying to confront him, I'm just saying give him a talk brother to brother, okay?"

Lutz gave him a stare that Tyler read as a little sad but he got up and mumbled an audible "Thank you" before he left for the Great Hall.

'Poor kid. Another one scared for himself and his family. I hope you're happy about this cousin.'

He followed Lutz's example and headed out too.

(---)

"Brad, that was some big story!" Tyler said full of ecstasy.

"Yeah, I hope we'll be acccepted by the Earth like you," Jacke said from where he was sitting.

The four of them were sitting together in the Great Hall listening to Brad retell his tale of what happened in his letter. The total number of students left in the school had dropped to a little over a dozen so there was only one long table set in the middle of the room.

"Take it easy. Well, she did say that she's been watching me when all four of us became intoned with the holy earth or something and said that she has watched how we've developed ourselves all on our own so maybe your chances will come too."

"I hope so. It would be a fantastic sight to see and I think she sounds kind of pretty," Reggie said happily, which made Tyler and Jacke snort trying to hold in laughter.

"Yeah, I guess she sort of was. Well anyway, did you guys love my little gift?"

There was an immediate yes on all three of their faces on how the water that he conjured had tasted.

"It was the best I ever drank," Tyler said filling Brad's sense of pride more.

"Yeah, I don't think I ever had water that was so fresh before," Jacke added.

"It was better than filtered water."

"What's filtered water?" Tyler asked and Jacke also seemed curious of.

"It's sort of like a cage in which muggles pour water into to catch all the minerals and iron in water leaving behind only fresh water to drink." Brad answered.

"Wow," Tyler and Jacke said a little to themselves.

They then finished their food, left the hall and went on talking about what each of them got for Christmas and soon ended up going over what they were going to do tomorrow.

"Okay, lets go and leave at noon tomorrow, how's that sound," Tyler asked. When they didn't find anything wrong with that plan, he moved on. "Alright, I have the map that we found in the Chamber and also my ancestor's journal. Who knows, he might've put something in there that we could use. We'll leave through the main entrance and go over to where the changing rooms are and then we'll turn into our animal forms and go over to the closest part of the forest where the portal is and then when we're sure the coast is clear, we'll transform back and head for it. Got it?"

"Got it," Jacke said.

"I understand," Reggie said.

"Roger," Brad said.

"Roger?" Tyler asked looking a little lost.

"Muggle term," Reggie said and they left for the day to enjoy Christmas for tomorrow they might not get to see another one.

(---)

Reggie spent his day finishing any homework that his teachers assigned for over the break. Thankfully, his friend Laura was also staying and they worked together.

"Reggie, do you want to play a little in the snow tomorrow?"

"Oh sorry, I have plans for tomorrow already Laura. I'm going to be with Brad, Jacke and Tyler."

"Oh, what are you four doing?"

"Oh, just going to doing some random stuff."

"Can I join you then. I have nothing to do tomorrow."

"No," he said a little fast. "You might not want to. It's going to be guy stuff really, you might be bored."

Laura looked at him narrowed and Reggie knew that she was suspicious. He realized that he shouldn't have lost it there. 'Great, just great,' he thought with malice.

"What are you up to Reggie?"

"Nothing. Just…just a little girl trouble, that's it."

"You're my friend. I know you're hiding something and believe it or not, I'm going to find out eventually so unless you want to save me the trouble, tell me what's wrong. I've known you for almost a year and I think I've known enough to know that there is something wrong and I have a feeling that it isn't girl trouble at all."

Reggie just closed his eyes and tried to remain calm. He never did like pressure like this. 'Why is it that I don't feel nervous on the day of a big exam but I always get nervous when I'm confronted.' He thought nervously.

"Reggie, come on. I knew you were hiding something ever since before your match. Don't you think you could tell me if there is something you want to let out of your chest. You can trust me with anything. I won't tell anyone anything you tell me that you want to keep private. Don't you trust me?"

Reggie searched within himself until he found his answer to her question. "Yes." He let out a breath. "Okay…"

He then made himself comfortable and started to explain everything and I mean everything to her. She asked questions at the right places and was surprised at all the right times. When he was done telling her, she just stared ahead.

"Remember Laura, you said that you weren't going to tell anyone. Do I have your word?"

She didn't answer right away and Reggie could tell she was still absorbing everything. He couldn't blame her, he said everything from when the seekers became elementals to what happened last year to what they were doing tomorrow. She was seriously shocked at when he told her Tyler's real name. He hoped she would keep this secret. He was really risking a lot especially with Tyler if she couldn't be trusted with this. He looked at his watch and saw that he had been talking for about an hour and was starting to wish that Brad was here with another one of those refreshing bottles of water.

"Look," she said finally. "I won't tell anyone. I told you that I promised and I'm not going to break my promise to you. But try to be careful tomorrow okay?"

"You don't have to worry about me. I'll have my friends with me and I told you that the four of us have been in a tight spot before. Just don't say it to anyone. I'll talk to Tyler later that I told you and that his secret is safe with you. He's not a bad guy you know, he happens to be a really great friend and I don't want to lose his friendship over a mistake like this. You're the very first person that I told any of this too, not even my parents know about this."

"…Don't worry. I'm sure Solemn or Slytherin or whoever is great. You've always said how all three of them have been good friends and it's time that I see for myself. All the things you told me are between you and me. I'm sort of flattered that I'm the first one you told. You can count on me if Flitwick asks where you are, I'll cover up for you but you better come back here alive or I won't."

Reggie just smiled at her and they went on and continued finishing their homework. After they were done, he asked for her help in taking all the potions that he readied for tomorrow and placed them in a two pouch bags. He even showed off a little of his elemental powers in the common room for her without fear since they were the only two ravenclaws left at Hogwarts for the break before he and Laura decided to turn in for the day.

Brad was with Jacke and they were practicing their targeting and dueling one last time. When they were aiming for a rock in a far direction, Brad got Jacke's attention.

"Jacke, are you scared about tomorrow?"

"Scared? Well…maybe a little bit."

"I mean, we've been getting ready for this day for months already and now that it's here, I'm wondering whether it was really enough."

"Brad, you've trained as hard as any of us. Together, we'll make it through. We all have each other's back and this is what will get us to the potion and out again. We've all been in tough spots before but we've only got out of it when we worked together. Together, all four of us were able to stop Arnold from using Tyler's head as a hunting plaque and we've all developed our powers together so don't be so worried. It will all be fine."

"Yeah, I guess it is a little silly to doubt ourselves after all this. But that's not the only thing that's bothering me."

"What else is wrong?" Jacke asked as he shot another stunner to the rock ahead and glazed it.

"Well…I kind of…spilled the beans so to speak."

"Spilled? On what?" he said dropping his wand hand down.

"I kind of told Hawkster about the potion."

"You did what?"

"Don't worry Jacke. I told him right around the time of the quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw and he's kept the secret all this time. I trust him and I'm sure that you can too."

"If Tyler finds out, bloody hell, I have even a right mind to slap you one. You're sure that Hawkster Jones won't tell."

"Positive. He does want to know what we're doing with it but other than that, nothing else. You won't tell Tyler won't you."

"Well…no I won't. You're the one that's going to have to do that. Just remember that should your pal Hawkster say one thing about this to anyone then Tyler is going to have your head and I'll be there saying 'I told you so,' Okay?"

"Okay fine. Thanks Jacke, I've been holding that in for a while."

"Like we said before, you're sometimes way too trusting for your own good."

"Maybe, also one last thing."

"What is it this time?" Jacke said expecting Brad to say something more apocalyptic.

"I got a letter from my grandfather, the one who taught me martial arts, he's going to the United States for the summer and he invited me to come along."

"Wow, that's great Brad. I wish I could go overseas and see how everything is over there, both magical and muggle."

"I think you're wish is about to be granted." Jacke just looked at him waiting for the rest. "My grandfather and my parents are looking forward to meeting the three of you and my grandpa offered to take you three with us! Do you want to come?"

"Honestly, that's the most dumbest question you have ever asked me, of course! Jacke said practically shouting before his face fell. "But wait, I don't want to cost your family so much money. Isn't that kind of a trip supposed to be expensive?"

"Oh, normally yes, but remember when I told all you guys that my parents were innkeepers? They have a contract with the travel agency to help in taking tourists; and this was part of the free package that we just got, thanks to the contract. We're allowed to take up to 10 people anywhere once a year for a round trip. We're going to stay over there for three and a half weeks at New York City."

"That's amazing, I'll ask my parents if it's okay and I'll pass the news to Tyler."

"Great, Reggie already knows and he already said yes and already owled his parents."

"You see Brad, you just gave all of us another reason to be strong tomorrow. So we could all have a great time together in the U.S."

"Guess I did," Brad said absentminded.

Then they went back to perfecting their targeting and stunning for tomorrow.

Tyler was sitting with his godfather, Chaos in tow on his shoulder, and was telling him about the adventures that he had had last year with Professor Arnold.

"He seriously wanted to use you as a way to make himself look more righteous so he could be excepted in high honors to the League council?"

"Yeah, can you believe that? He tried to pass me off as a hunting trophy. But thanks to my friends, I was able to get away with my life intact. I was really surprised that they risked themselves when I was so horrible to them and accused them of doing all that stuff around the school to me."

"Well, that just means that the three of them are really something that you should hold onto. It seems that I was wrong of your friend Jacke if he did what you say. I mean with accepting you for what you are, helping you out with Arnold, giving you that pendant, worth risking your secret to save him from a snake bite, he must be some friend."

"He's been like a brother to me. First friend I ever had. Sure, Reggie and Brad are like brothers to me too but it's…different with Jacke. Reggie and Brad joke around saying that we're as close as twins but we just look and are completely different."

"Hmm, I hope that I see more of you to be able to agree. So, any other friends that know your secret?"

"No…I have more friends but they don't know my secret, only the three of them."

"Tell me about them."

"Well, there's Severus Snape. He's a really great guy that's always willing to help me out…like a big brother would. He really helped look out for me in my first year before he left. Then there's Regulus Black whose also like a big brother to me but is somewhat closer to me since he's closer to my age and has been here longer with me. There's Matt Carroway, he's really cool but he can do with less teasing. There's also Sam Baddock who I befriended earlier in the term, he's a chaser on the house team. Finally, there's Morgan Stellers, who is caring and nice but can get a little scary if we tease her or make her mad," he finished smiling a little bit.

"Whoa, quite a frenzy."

"Yeah…I guess it is Timothy," Tyler said. After a while, it became normal for him to call him that when they were in private.

"Hey Tyler, tell me, between godfather and godson, any girls you have your eye on?" he said raising his eyes encouragingly.

"No, not really. There are a few that I find pretty but that's about as far as I am. Reggie the real one that's started to go on date patrol," he said thinking about the two other dates that Reggie had after he found that Claudia Ments wasn't really his type.

"I would've guessed that you were farther. You do look like you could make a few girls double back to get a good look at you. Maybe you haven't noticed but I've seen a little of your personal magic affecting a girl's eyes."

"Really?" he said. He never really considered himself attractive so this sounded a little crazy. "Who?"

"You'll have to figure it out on your own, don't want to spoil the surprise."

"But this school is flooding with girls, how do you expect me to know who you're talking about?"

"Don't worry, you will."

Tyler rolled his eyes while he set Chaos down to pet him and had begun telling his godfather more of how he had grown up with his parents before his godfather thought he should turn in for the night and bid him farewell wishing him a Happy Christmas.

(---)

It was after breakfast and after giving everything one last good look, the seekers gathered everything they were going to use and met down at the second floor bathroom. Tyler teased Moaning Myrtle a little so she would get mad and decide to take a swim down a toilet. Jacke commented on how cool Tyler's combat robes were and his excitement on actually doing what they planned to do for months. Brad called what they were doing as mocking secret agents, and after he explained what that was, Tyler agreed completely. They sneaked off one by one down corridors and hallways to check if anyone was coming and if the coast was clear. They made it to the main entrance and headed for the changing rooms. Reggie changed into his eagle form and flew around to see if it was okay, and after making a complete lap around the castle, he flew back into the changing rooms to give his report.

"There are two students by the lake and Hagrid is cutting wood at his house other than that, it should be smooth conjuring."

"Great, let's all transform and head for the tree formation in the woods," Tyler said with a little sense of leadership in his voice. "Jacke, to be safe, you'll need to be the size of a lion cub rather than a full lion's size."

"I can do that, no problem. I'll be at the back of the line just in case."

Brad was looking out the front door and gave the all clear. "Let's go."

They all became their animals and left the changing rooms for the forest. Thankfully, they actually made it to the front of the tree formation on the map without any conflict. It looked a little bigger up close and was amazed at how close they actually were to a portal. There was a design carved at the bottom left side that looked like a chalice glowing. After they became human again, Tyler rechecked the map.

"First, we tap the chalice symbol on the right side there three times and then, well, it looks like we just walk right through it and we're there."

Jacke pulled out his wand and readied himself. "Okay, let's get our wands ready and head in."

They nodded, pulled out their wands and rushed into the doorway like design of the trees. When they hit the space in between the two sides, it felt as if they were ripping right through a soft gel and the scenery of the forest was replaced by that of some kind of stony interior. It seemed like a gigantic manmade stone room with stone blocks with torches around, as if it were the room of a medieval castle stronghold. It was so tall that five people would have to pile up to be able to reach the ceiling. They looked back at where they came and saw that it was like a watery mirror image of the Forbidden Forest.

The four of them gazed around and thought of how the place resembled a little bit like the dungeons at the school except that it felt more interesting. They still had their wands out but had no thoughts of alertness or fear; it was pure wonder and curiosity. It was quiet between them and in the room they were in until they heard a voice.

"Who art thou that enters the Sacred Temple Labyrinth of Creation?" boomed the voice.

The Seekers turned to where there was a pathway forward to find a being there. He looked old but wouldn't have classified as a human. He had long white hair going in opposite directions stopping above his wrists. He had a face that seemed to be a cross between a white tiger and human being and had deep purple eyes with white pupils. He had what seemed to be butterfly wings on his back and was dressed in old Celtic style armor.

"Err…" Jacke started. "We…heard the Potion of Fecundity was found by the Hogwarts Four and was hidden here again by Salazar Slytherin."

"Is this true?" Tyler finished.

"Yes," the being nodded. "Here is the sacred holding place of the Power of Creation. Thus the four of you desire to reach it?"

"Yes, we seek to have it sir," Reggie said as polite as he could make it out since it was obvious that Old English is what was generally spoken here.

"I am Orichai. I watch over the entrance to our sacred temple. If thy four seek the holy power then thou must past tests to deem worthy of it."

"Tests…you mean the things guarding the potion right?" Brad asked the being.

"Yes. There be seven gates to the final holding chamber. To open the gates, each gatekeeper must open their guarded gate. If thine pass the guardian's test, then thou wish shall be fulfilled to proceed."

"What happens if we…fail?" Reggie asked nervously.

"Then thou will pay for thine own failure and accept thy fate."

(---)

**End of Chapter 15**

Nightlit: Be patient. The other families will make themselves known. It will take time for me to make it all work up for that. Oh and it's Reggie's father that's the wizard parent.

Author Notes:

Well, let the games begin. Let's hope that the seekers have really trained themselves well in all areas. Next chapter will be started soon so try not to get worked up until after they've actually started these trials.

Review!


	16. Brad's Battle Proposal

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 16: Brad's Battle Proposal 

The Seekers just stood there grasping what Orichai had just told them. If they failed then they would have to suffer the consequences. Reggie was starting to think that maybe this wasn't a good idea, heck; he always thought these kinds of things weren't a good idea but it was too late to turn back now. Jacke was a little tense on what the consequences were but he tried not to think what would happen. Tyler was just too shocked to think on the matter properly. Brad seemed to be the one that was most frightened. He was visibly shaken by this, having a big mysterious creature tell you about danger for failing was like something out of those old adventure movies where adventurers were picked off one by one until only a select few remained.

Orichai spoke again. "Also, if thou wish to stop, then thou shall be welcome to. However, if thou wish another attempt then thou must begin all over again. Now, if thou seek to have the holy power then through this passage ye lie. But tread cautiously and I offer one warning: A pack is strongest with all on the same side."

'What does that mean?' Tyler thought. He didn't have much time because all of a sudden, Orichai simply just vanished into thin air without a trace. "He's gone."

"Well, what do we do know?" Brad asked to the silent three.

"We go on. We won't accomplish anything by just standing here. Let's go," Tyler said before he led on with Jacke, Brad and Reggie right behind him.

They walked onward through the stone passageway. Ahead was a dark as the deepest night. As they walked, the torches would ignite illuminating their surrounding area and would go off when they went far enough. It reminded them of the tunnels inside Hogwarts at how the walls let out a glow to illuminate the area and would disappear when you went far enough.

They walked for what seemed like ages until they came up to a giant open space. It was the size of a basic classroom all set in a circular shape. Beyond them was the passage to go on but there were bars in place to prevent them from going on.

"How are we going to keep going?"

"That's easy Brad. We'll just break these bars with a good Severing Charm." Jacke announced. He brandished his wand and yelled, "_Diffindo_!" The spell made contact but the metal bars stayed in place and looked like they didn't get a scratch.

"That's strange. That should've worked. Those bars are around a thousand years old and Jacke's charms are the best out of the four of us so what's wrong?" Tyler said looking at the bars carefully.

"Wait," Reggie said snapping his fingers. "Didn't Orichai say that we couldn't go on until we past the 7 guardians tests or something like that? Maybe we're at the first test and the bars won't vanish without the guardian's permission."

"But how are we going to pass the test when we don't even know what it is that we're supposed to do in the first place?" Tyler was at a lost until there was a big roaring sounding.

The Seekers shot their heads up and saw a light coming from the top of the room. In the light was a dark figure that was starting to lower itself toward them. They gripped their wands and readied their concentration incase they needed their elements. When the figure touched down, they saw that it was a figure that Tyler's godfather had taught them on their first DADA class: a Sphinx.

"Hello, young ones," it said in a gentle but strong voice. "I am the first guardian of these hollow grounds and in order to proceed, you must pass my test."

"What test is that?" Reggie asked letting out a deep breath.

"You must answer my riddle. If you correctly answer it then I shall allow you to go on. Answer incorrectly and you shall feel my claws. If you choose to not answer then you shall all be allowed to return back. You aren't allowed to work together. You are to choose one from your party to be subject to think and answer. You will choose amongst yourselves now."

They went off to the opposite corner and started to discuss this.

"Okay, so, which one of us is it going to be?"

"Well, Brad, you can count me out. When my godfather gave us this lesson, I wasn't even close to guessing the right answer."

Jacke shook his head. "Same here. I'm not really too good with riddles. I'm not the best choice for this either. That just leaves you two," he said indicating Brad and Reggie.

"Did any on you two solve the riddle?" Tyler asked.

"Well, I did." Reggie announced.

"Not me." Brad said.

"Well, then I guess that our safe bet is Reggie then."

"Jacke, you know how I am with pressure. When we had that riddle in class, we were sitting down doing a fun class activity, not actually confronting a live sphinx that could rip us all to shreds if I guess wrong."

"Reggie, we need you. You're the one that is kind of the big brains in your group."

"But what if I mess up. I don't know everything you know," Reggie said looking at his shoelaces.

"Brad's right Reggie," Tyler said looking upon his friend. "Remember, if you don't know the answer then you don't have guess. We could just walk out and try again, when we get stronger. Just try your best out there okay. If you know it great and if you don't then we won't hold it against you. You'll only let us down if you didn't try at all."

"Tyler's right mate. We might not be able to help but you can count on us to keep our fingers crossed for you."

Reggie stayed silent for a while and let a "Thanks guys," slip from his lips. He turned over to the Sphinx and raised his voice. "We've chosen and I will be the one. Tell me the riddle."

"Very well. Step over here in front of me. As for you three, if any of you knows the answer, then you are forbidden from saying it. Any violation and I attack immediately. Here's your riddle,

_I am known throughout the world for the importance of my face. I am a part of humans's life and their whole existence revolves on having me nearby. I have no body but I wield hands. I have no head but I have a face. I run but I will never walk. I have no definite size and can be as big as a tower or as small as a rock. Twelve characters on my face give me my power. My partner is the pendulum and our sounds are the same as a pest. What am I?_

Now for your answer."

Reggie was wracking his brain to find out what exactly was the sphinx talking about. The other three didn't make heads or tails of what that mean.

'Okay, let's see. A pendulum and it are partners. But pendulums don't make sounds except when they rock, they make ticks. Wait, a tick is a pest; it's an annoying insect. Okay, a ticking something with a face and twelve characters…wait, that's it. It's so simple!!!'

"The answer is a clock!"

The sphinx bowed its head and the bars shrank down into the floor leaving the passage wide open for them to continue. The Seekers all came together and gave a big group hug focusing most of their pressure on Reggie and stopped when he said that he couldn't breathe.

"How did you figure that out? It sounded like a lot of waffle to me," Jacke said looking really impressed.

"It wasn't too hard to tell you the truth. I started from the last clue up. The pendulum makes a sound when it rocks, a tick, which is a pest. And when you see a rocking pendulum, you see a clock. I had to be sure it was a clock and looked at the other clues. Power sources like batteries make them run but they don't walk. It doesn't have a head or body but it has a face with twelve numbers and a minute and hour hand. Clocks also tick with their second hands just like a pendulum and people need a clock because they all have schedules and you could hardly go by without one."

"Whoa, that is kind of simple," Brad said smiling at how he missed it. "That was a pretty good one still."

The Sphinx cut their celebration short. "Well, you have passed the first test but I warn you. Do not let confidence blind you. It was merely the first and every test is more difficult than the last. Mine was the easiest that you will encounter. Good luck young ones." He then spread his wings and headed back up to the light and vanished completely.

Soon the four of them found themselves going on through the corridor for the 2nd test. It didn't seem to take as long as it did to get to the first because despite the warning to not let their confidence blind them, it was just too hard not too. They were more ready and feeling more able then they were a good ten minutes ago. They arrived at the second trial room to find that it looked no different from the first. There was a passage with bars to block the way and it was circular. However, unlike before, there was a figure standing in the middle of the room. It was scaly, green and creepy. Brad thought it looked like one of the goblins from a muggle video game. It had yellow eyes, pointed ears, was about their height, had deep claws on its hands and feet and had big wings.

"Greetings, this is your first test. I am a soul collector. If you fail in my challenge then I, a soul demon, will devour your soul. You must say a hundred words in a single sentence." He had a gleam to his eyes after saying this, which Brad saw. He started to feel like he was being cheated off something and started remembering where he saw that kind of gleam before. "If you fail this task then you will become my appetizer. To start the challenge, thou must say the word, ready, to begin."

Like before, the four seekers went into a huddle.

"This doesn't make sense at all. How are we supposed to do this challenge?" Jacke asked rubbing his temples.

"Is it me, or am I seeing a pattern here?" Reggie said.

"Yeah, the tests so far have just been logic and brainteasers."

"I know Brad. We trained for real battle action and dueling and all we've got is homework riddles."

"Well Jacke. I already answered this bit of homework," Brad said with a gleam in his eyes.

"You have?" he said looking at his friend with doubt. "That fast?"

"It's a little deception that this demon's trying to pull. He said the riddle in a way that could fool anyone. Luckily, being bullied by slytherins all this time, no offense to you or Regulus Tyler, you're somewhat ready for these kinds of things that some of them try to pull over you. Just watch."

"I hope you know what you're doing Brad. If you're wrong then this demon will consume our souls for an evening snack," Tyler said before he urged Brad on. "But if you're sure that you know what you're doing then get going."

"Ready," Brad said a little harshly to the demon.

"Go on," it said before licking its lips.

"A hundred words in a single sentence."

Jacke, Reggie and Tyler just stood there in shock and had their mouths open at Brad's response. 'What was he playing at?' they all thought. However, the demon let out a frustrated yell and just disappeared leaving the doorway free for them to use.

"Wha, wha…I don't understand," Reggie said shaking his head.

"I saw that when the demon told us the challenge, he had a gleam in his eyes. It reminded me of when Lestrange pushed me into the dirt. He said that he was picking mudbloods and he picked me up to throw me to the dirt. It was like he had an inside joke and it was the same with the demon. He said, "you Must say, a hundred words in a single sentence." I caught it. I guess even being picked on can help you in a weird sort of way."

Jacke went to Tyler and put an arm on his shoulder. "Brad, you are bloody brilliant. You showed that demon that you wouldn't be pushed around."

Reggie and Tyler joined in the recognition and Brad was starting to feel a little embarrassed. "Really guys, it's nothing. Let's just move on the next one shall we."

As they walked, Brad had something in his mind that he couldn't pass up saying. "Tyler, your ancestor must've not been so brilliant after all if we've gone this far without even a scratch. The way he made it sound in his journal, this place was always a battle for life and death."

"Brad, you're getting ahead of yourself. Remember what the Sphinx told us. The beginning tryouts are supposed to be easy. But as we get farther then that's where the real trouble starts. I just hope we can handle it."

They continued on through the corridor and found themselves at a third chamber. This one was different from the other two. There was a wider space and there was a figure leaning on it. He looked like a teenage boy dressed in white robes but there were alterations that made it useless for him to pass as a mere human. He had wild purple hair with two yellow horns coming out of the top. He had glowing yellow eyes and his ears were a little pointed. There were also was seemed to be bird talons where his hands should be but other than that he seemed normal. He looked up at them and smiled.

"Greetings. I am your third trial." He had the voice of a typical teenager as well that clashed with his appearance. He sounded so gentle. "I am Shimroe. Now let us begin." The wall disappeared and all of a sudden, a large circular arena was in their sights. Brad thought that it looked about half the size of a basketball court. "You must defeat me in a battle. You are to choose one fighter who could defeat me but you are not permitted to use your human forms at all."

When he said this, the four of them looked at each other in shock and wonder. "Yes, I know you all have the power to become animals and I know exactly which ones as well. You must stay in your animal form while in battle with me. Don't fret for I will become a beast myself and battle. If for any reason that you change into your human form then you shall be cursed for all eternity. This arena is a sacred place where only beasts could step foot into. Should a human stand on this sacred ground then they are cursed to relive horrors of their past forever without end. Now, who shall it be," he finished rubbing his hands like he just invited them to play a game of Exploding Snap. He moved toward the center and the Seekers mouths dropped when he started levitating about a few inches from the ground so he wasn't touching the floor still with the confident, playful smile.

"Whoa, that guys seems pretty sure of himself. He seems so gentle to be any threat," Jacke said taking another look at him.

"Don't be fooled. Remember me. I may be a nice guy but I can be ruthless in a duel which you should know," he said a little cockily.

"Whose the one this time. Seems that now we're going into the more physical and brutal stuff. We don't even know what he's going to turn into and yet he knows all about the four of us," Reggie said sounding crazed.

"Look, maybe he was bluffing about that. He didn't actually say what we were so maybe it was to intimidate us?" Tyler said trying to raise his spirits but it seemed that that failed.

"Anyway, we have to decide what animal would be the best choice. An unknown beast against either a lion, snake, badger or an eagle," Jacke said counting off the possibilities.

"Well, the choice is so obvious that I shouldn't have to even say it to you huh?" Reggie said starting to sound a little pompous. "It should be," he started to say looking at Jacke but Brad cut him off.

"You Reggie."

"What? Me? Brad, Jacke is a lion. His claws and strong legs would be the best for fighting."

"Reggie, we can't risk anything, can we? Both Tyler and Jacke are still fresh from the trials. Maybe we should try to hold on that. You and I better try and save them for later. They are the dueling champions from last year and you have to admit that they know their dueling. If we're all tired out then the seventh trial will finish us off completely. Also, you are an eagle. You have the advantage of flying to help in dodging and surprise attacks. When I dueled you and you used your animal form, you were very unpredictable. That's the best way that we should go on right now."

Whatever admiration for Brad that he received in the last test was just doubled. Brad had a real good point. If they all exhausted themselves then the last test would have to face four tired wizards instead of two or one fresh wizard.

"Brad," Tyler started. "I…I completely agree."

"But Tyler. We just can't sit back and do nothing while Reggie and Brad run themselves into the floor. It's not right." Jacke said shaking his head and showed that he didn't like it.

"The tests seem to be getting physical now and you and I are the best duelers between the four of us. If both Reggie and Brad want to do this then we'll have to respect that. Believe me, I don't like it any more than you do. But I see where Brad is going with this. We're trump spells for later. We have to think about the 4 tasks ahead instead of thinking of just now."

"Well, there you have it Jacke," Brad said to him before turning to Reggie. "Well mate? How about it? Are you in on my idea or not?"

"Alright. After you said that, I can't not go with it Brad. I can still change my size if I need to when I'm in my eagle form so that should give me the greater edge over this guy."

"Good luck Reggie mate. I may not like it but you can count on me to support you all the way."

"Thanks Jacke."

Reggie moved himself toward the center of the arena where the tester Shimroe was waiting. He reached the boundary, the line that was between the stone floor of the temple with the arena. Where Reggie was standing, moments later was an elegant eagle in his place. It flew over about four feet from where Shimroe was levitating.

"Now, let me explain the rules. In order to win in this fight, one must be either knocked out, knocked out of the arena or if you give up. There's absolutely no time limit and no interference allowed. If there is remotely one spell that breaches an inch of the arena then you automatically lose and you will be cast out. Now…let's start. The match officially starts when I let out a roar from my mouth."

The tester Shimroe started to shape shift in front of their eyes. He started to turn black and his face became pointed out and started to stretch forward developing fangs and whiskers. He gained a tail and leaned forward to be on four. His eyes didn't lose their yellow color but they became fierce. There was no evidence that he seemed like that harmless guy now. His total outlook changed to that of a panther, except there were classic mistakes. His horns were still there but had shrunk in size. On the top of his head was a mop of his purple hair.

Reggie flapped his wings and gazed onto the form of his panther opponent. 'Okay, this is good. He's a land-based animal. He can only strike on the ground, which means that my aerial attacks have all the edge in this fight. Still…I had better not chance it. He is still a tester and I bet he's fought against disadvantages before. My best move would be to hit him hard and quick. I shouldn't underestimate him for a minute.'

The panther form of Shimroe let out a roar and the fight between the two animals had just begun.

(---)

**End of Chapter 16**

SwollenFridge: I'm glad you love the Earth Spirit. Don't worry, there'll be more of her. I'm still in the planning stages. As for why Brad was the first to be accepted first. I made him first because I want to use the knowledge that he was first despite being a muggleborn later on. As for the actual reason why the Spirit came to him first was because he showed her that he was capable to work hard to be a great elemental. He made her proud. (Note: when you are accepted, it merely means that not only does it mean that you can conjure REAL elements instead of force, but you're able to progress faster. Before you're accepted, it's like your elemental progress is shackled down until she decides to unshackle you so you could realize your true potential with more work.) Lastly, you stated about Tyler's secret being more public now. Yes, it will start being more public as the time goes on. If you knew exactly how far I'm planning then you'd probably faint.

Author Notes:

Well, I must say that I'm quite pleased at how I handled the first tests. The first two were more like Brainteasers. Now we're on to the actual fighting stuff. I set it up that way that whoever set foot onto that place would be easily caught off guard quickly. Luckily Reggie was there to remind them of Orichai's advice. Would you believe that I wrote all of this within three hours just now. When I started typing, I couldn't stop. I spent the entire week catching up on all the updating of the stories that are on my favorites lists. Also, I have my college final exams for the semester coming up. I thought I might need to apologize for later than usual updating but I guess now's not that case.

Review and tell me how you loved the chapter.


	17. Truth and Shared Pain

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 17: Truth and Shared Pain

Shimroe started off by leaping out at Reggie but he quickly flapped his wings and became airborne. Reggie then circled Shimroe for a moment before he went and dived and lashed out at his back with his talons. Reggie gashed at him and took off before Shimroe could retaliate.

While Reggie was gaining momentum in the air, Tyler, Jacke and Brad were jumping and cheering for their flying friend. They strongly believed that Shimroe would easily fall, as did the Sphinx and the Soul Demon.

Reggie dived again and striked at Shimroe's panther face this time leaving three red scrapes of blood in his wake. While Reggie was going back up again, he couldn't help but feel that there was something odd about Shimroe. To him, this seemed just a little too easy to be confident of winning. He turned his head to look at Shimroe in his panther form, using his paw to stroke his face. Reggie decided to become a little bigger so that his talons could do deeper damage. He changed from average eagle size and made himself half bigger than he originally was. He would save other sizes for later; after all, Reggie could only make himself become as big as his original height due to the change that their elemental transformation did for their animagus ability. He went for the strike again but this time Shimroe appeared ready. He jumped with his four legs and dodged to his left. When Reggie's back had been placed to him, Shimroe opened his mouth. He didn't roar or anything but that didn't eliminate the chance of danger. A glow escaped his mouth and then a beam of white light shot out and went for Reggie.

When Jacke saw the light, he yelled for Reggie to look out. Reggie turned and saw the beam shoot from Shimroe's mouth and glided himself to the right getting out of the way barely in time as the beam went on and shattered a piece of the high ceiling.

"What…what in the bloody hell was that?!" Tyler couldn't help but yell.

"It looks…like Shimroe has mystical powers even when he's a common animal."

"That's not fair! Reggie's a common eagle now. How's he supposed to stand up against that kind of disadvantage? All he could do is change his size and that hardly makes a challenge next to shooting magic blasts at your opponent!" Jacke yelled stamping his feet.

Then there was chuckling on the field and they turned their heads from each other and saw that it was the panther that was laughing. "Did you really think that it would be that easy? I am a guardian of the power of creation. Just because you defeated my earlier brethren, doesn't mean that you were certain to the legendary power. I am able to release bursts of energy while in my transformed state giving me the advantage regardless which beast I confront."

'This isn't good,' Reggie thought from where he hovered from above. 'That means that no matter where I fly off to, I can't avoid the possibility of being attacked.'

Shimroe went back on his attack. He let out a faint flash escape his eyes before let twin beams of energy jet out from them, intending them to hit Reggie. Reggie took off and went on ahead. He left the energy behind him but several beams shot from Shimroe's eyes and he had to go into evasive action to keep from being hit. He didn't want to take the chance to see just how strong those beams were and if he could withstand them. He just kept moving away, around and ahead of them as they came but in was nonstop and he couldn't get a moment where he could counterattack.

"Reggie!" Tyler screamed over from where he was. "You can't keep dodging those attacks forever. I know you want to avoid taking a chance of getting injured if you could help it but unless you actually do damage to Shimroe then this will keep on going. I don't think you could keep this up forever. You're going to have to take a risk."

"Tyler's right Reggie. Unless you stand against Shimroe's strength and go into the offensive then you're going to lose this fight. You have to fight back," Jacke shouted after his friend.

"Reggie, if you're going to do something then you better do it soon," Brad yelled right after.

Reggie decided to act more like a bird of prey and started to circle his prey.

"Oh no you don't," Shimroe protested before he launched another wave.

Reggie avoided another shot and then started to swoop and charge at Shimroe. Shimroe let out an arsenal of beams from his jaws and they went for Reggie who dodged at the best he could at his current speed. He readied his claws and prepared himself to grow to his maximum height to get the hardest attack he could come up with. However, Shimroe let out a blast that unluckily struck at Reggie's right wing. Reggie let out a rough "Caw" sound put still was swooping down and collided with Shimroe. Shimroe was thrust back like he had been pulled by the tail; he moved but had his claws still firmly on the ground. Reggie went up again but he was doing it by putting most of the effort in his left wing because his right wing felt like it was ripped clean off and thrust right back into it's socket. It took a lot to keep him airborne.

"Well, I see that you are persistent Mr. Falkner. I can also see that it's taking you much of your strength to keep in the air despite your handicap. I can't wait to see how long you plan to prolong the inevitable."

'He's right,' Reggie thought in near defeat. I can't beat him with just one wing. If I transform back and hit the ground then I'll be cursed or worse. I…I can't beat him. Even I could muster getting myself to get near him, there's no way I can get him to be knocked out,' he thought before he caught exactly where Shimroe was. Shimroe was close to the edge of the arena. 'One good hit should knock him out naming me the victor. But…how am I going to gain the leverage for that on one wing.'

"Reggie!" called Brad from where he and Tyler and Jacke were standing. "Come on. Don't let Shimroe get to you. You've got to keep going."

"Reggie, honestly, if you dare to even consider giving up then I'll make the beating Shimroe gave you look like a tap," Jacke yelled up to his bird form friend.

"Look Reggie, we know that you're hurt. But you can't let that stop you. Use everything and I mean everything to your advantage. Leave nothing overlooked and I'm sure that the answer will blow by," Tyler shouted encouraging his friend by honoring his position as a wind elemental.

The effect of that comment didn't encourage Reggie but it opened up a possible solution. 'The wind. I'm a wind elemental. I've manipulated the wind many times and every time I do, I feel intoned with it. Maybe if I focus, then maybe I could pick up on which wave of wind would help me glide down and attack Shimroe. I may not be able to use my elemental powers as an animal but I can still use the wind to my advantage.'

Reggie closed his eyes and tried to let his body and birdly senses tell him how the air was blowing in the entire place. He found a good gust of wind being blown close to where Shimroe was and intersected with it. Reggie started to extend his left wing out like the wing of a kite. Shimroe made a smirk, which was obviously one on his panther face and opened his mouth, getting ready for another attack. Reggie stayed on course and tried not to be intimidated by it.

'Okay, my size is what's going to do it. Timing is going to have to be everything.'

Shimroe released a tremendous blast intending for it to be the final shot but Reggie put his plan to flourishon. He concentrated and made himself about the size of a tiny minute owl that could sit on a finger and avoided the attack. Then he felt it; he felt the wind changing and knew that it was going to blow down with a second wave. He then kept the charge and immediately brought his wings in and shot at him like a torpedo. Reggie then quickly made himself his maximum size and made a good collision with Shimroe, knocking him out of bounds.

Shimroe saw that he was defeated and let out a frustrated growl escape him as he whacked his tail. He left the arena grounds and changed back into that purple haired teenager again. The other three seekers were jumping and cheering at how their fellow seeker from Ravenclaw defeated Shimroe with a hurt wing. Reggie walked over to his friends in his animal state before he returned to his normal state. Immediately he gripped his right shoulder and saw that it was dislocated.

"Whoa, that must hurt."

"That's a big painful duh, Tyler!"

"Okay, easy there Reggie."

"Reggie," Brad said looking at him with narrowed eyes. "We're going to have to fix that."

"No…no…not that."

"Yep."

"No." Reggie was really starting to look scared of Brad now and Tyler and Jacke watched with pity.

Brad went over to Reggie and Reggie turned his head away. Brad went over to the part of the arm that was dislocated and swiftly popped it back into place and Reggie let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Would you rather have constant, agonizing pain with the danger of losing your arm all through the trip or one mega painful moment with a guarantee of keeping it?"

"Right now Brad, I think losing the arm was the merciful choice."

There was a cough interrupting them and the four of them realized that they forgot all about Shimroe.

"I must say that you put up a well won fight." He waved his arm and the guard bars disappeared into the floor revealing the next passage. "Mr. Falkner, it was an honor to have you as an opponent. Mr. Carter, Walker, Slytherin, it's been fun."

"Wait, you know my real name," Tyler said holding his arm stopping Shimroe from going anywhere.

"Yes, we know all four of you. Orichai looked into your souls through your eyes and let us know about you four in advance. Good luck." Then he vanished into thin air.

The Seekers walked on, all with the same goal in mind, of getting past the last four trials. Reggie was last in line because he was trying to ease the pain in his shoulder by trying not to move his arm much. Reggie was massaging it when he was starting to see fog. His vision started to be blurred and soon, he lost sight of the corridors that he was walking in.

In front of him was a beautiful…angel was what he could call it. She let out a glow that just screamed life. Her eyes were as green as leaves and her hair was as brown as bark. "Hello Reginald Falkner, I am the spirit of the earth."

"You're the spirit of the earth?" he said deeply surprised. It was the same apparition that visited Brad just before Christmas accepting him.

"Yes. I've been watching ever since you became one with the wind. You showed true worth when you relied on your own element without even manipulating it. I will now unshackle you so you may realize your full potential."

Then out of nowhere, Reggie saw was seemed to be ghostly white shackles on his wrists that seemed to be made of wind. They immediately broke away and disappeared off.

"Doing this will allow you to be able to conjure real wind, pure wind. Also, you will realize that your progress with the wind will have deeply improved after every practice. You will be able to improve faster and better after you train unlike before when it took a lot of work to get the smallest results. You've been accepted in truly being your own with the wind. I wish you well."

Reggie then heard of voice that sounded familiarly like Jacke's. "Reggie, Reggie, are you still there?" When Reggie got out of his stupor, he saw Jacke waving his hand in front of his face.

He knocked the hand away and cleared his throat. "Guys, did I go somewhere?"

"No, you were just standing there like you were in a daze. It looked like you fainted on your feet," Jacke said rubbing his hand. "Why?"

"I was just talking with the earth spirit."

"What? She came to you," Brad said pushing Tyler and Jacke out of the way to be in front of Brad.

"Yeah, she said that I was accepted because of how I used the wind without actually using my wind powers."

"Sounds like her."

"How would you know Brad? You've only seen her once," Tyler said putting his hands under his shoulders and narrowing his eyes.

"Never mind, the point is that we have two elementals on our team that can reach our full potentials without the earth spirit pulling us back."

"Why haven't we been accepted yet Tyler? We've been elementals the same amount of time as them so why not us too?"

"Don't know Jacke. I guess we'll ask her when we get accepted. Let's keep going."

They soon reached a different kind of room. This room looked like it hadn't been stepped into for eons. There was webbing all around and a few spiders on the floor.

"Eh, this place needs a definite clean," Jacke said cutting the webs in front of him away.

"Is this a trial? To clean up the place," Brad said shaking discarded webbing off his clothes.

Tyler caught sight of the corridor out of there but like before, it was blocked by bars. "Guys we better be careful, this is a trial judging from the blocked way so we have too…"

He never got to finish because he got lifted up and pulled to the top of the room where it was pitch dark screaming.

"Tyler!" Reggie screamed. Are you…" However, he couldn't finish either because he was pulled up screaming too.

"Tyler! Reggie! Are you guys okay?" Jacke yelled as loud as he could muster.

"If you could just do something, send us some kind of sig…" Brad was stopped in mid-sentence because now he was pulled up and out of sight.

Jacke was completely left alone. He pulled out his wand and readied himself for the slightest bit of movement. He was as alert as the badge on his robes indicated, a lion. He was poised and ready to pounce at the slightest brush of an enemy. He heard a sound coming down and he jumped out of the way and was ready with a stunning spell but saw that it was Tyler. He was wrapped up in three tight lines of webbing and was hanging about 5 feet from the ground.

"Tyler! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Jacke except for one small thing. I'm tied up and I can't get down!!!"

"Okay, no need for you to be all snappy."

Jacke was getting reading to try a severing charm but Tyler was soon joined by Reggie and Brad wrapped up in the exact same way; three tight strings of webbing hanging off what seemed to be a web behind them.

"You guys too? What happened to you three?"

"That would be my doing," said another voice.

Something descended and landed quite a few feet away. It was a 20-foot spider.

'Well, that at least explains the webbing.' Jacke thought as he gazed at the huge spider.

"I am Arachne, guardian and provider of the fourth test. Tremble before my awesome sight." It roared sounding feminine.

"We would, if we were flies," Jacke responded with a bored expression on his face to show that he wasn't scared.

"How dare you! You have a lot of nerve there."

"Whatever, let my friends down and we won't squash you unless the test happens to be that."

"No. Your friends are finding themselves in…a web of lies. Ha, Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

"Nice pun," Brad said dully.

"Should be since I'm the one who inspired it."

"Huh?" Reggie said with a look of confusion all over his face.

"When the founders had this test, I used it on them and they told it to the rest of their world and it's been adapted everywhere now thanks to my influence."

"Hooray, do you want a medal or something?" Reggie said mimicking Brad's dulled voice.

"Let us begin. Mr. Walker, yes you've been pardoned from this test but its best that you stay where you are. Now as for you three," he indicated at Tyler, Reggie and Brad, "You will be conducted in a truth trial.

"Truth trial? What do you mean?"

"Simple Mr. Slytherin. In this trial, you'll notice that the three of you are stuck in my web of deceit. This web is holding you simply because you are concealing a truth from each other through the use of lies, hence the web of lies. You three have been lying for quite some time for the web to be this big. It seems that Mr. Walker was the only one who wasn't hiding anything with lies or hasn't told enough to become a great web like this."

All four of them jumped at this and each made eye contact. What was everyone lying about? Jacke was looking at the three of them with a mixture of wonder and disappointment pointed at them. 'I'm the only one who makes an effort to try and be honest as best as I can,' he thought shaking his head.

"Know, they say that the truth hurts but in my test, it is the lie that will hurt. Each of you three will be given three turns to speak on what exactly is the lie that has been plaguing you three. If you tell the truth and let your conscience be free of it then the web will let your bodies free. Tell a lie to cover it or fail to speak and I will send a rush of pain through the webbing. Fail to free yourselves after the three turns will result in you simultaneously returning outside the beginning doorway. Shall we begin?" She walked under the four of them and stopped in front of Reggie. "Mr. Falkner."

"What? Me first. I have nothing that's been bothering my conscious," he said defiantly. Then all of a sudden he let out a hard scream. Reggie was feeling like someone was pouring hot water over his body concentrating on his trapped hands and feet. Then the pain stopped coming but still left an aftershock. Reggie suddenly knew what she might be implying. There was one secret that he kept covering up, he covered them up expertly but they were still lies to a degree. 'But maybe, if I tell the truth on something else that's been on my mind then maybe I'll be let free,' he thought.

"Wrong answer. One down. Now try again starting……….now." She said slamming one of her legs.

"Alright," he said, "there is something. I've been hiding the fact that…I got kissed by Claudia Ments on the first date and that was the real reason I dumped her."

"Wrong answer." After Arachne said this, more pain was sent.

"Reggie, you dumped Claudia Ments because she kissed you."

"It was on the lips Brad."

Tyler, Jacke and Brad would've whooped for their friend but didn't feel that this was the time.

"Anyway," Tyler said, "He told us something. Why did you say wrong answer? He did lie to cover that up and said because he wasn't interested.

"That wasn't a lie. I could sense that's not what made my webbing. He really wasn't interested by that kiss even though it was his first. He did feel her attraction but he realized that attraction and affection are different. Now you have one more try Mr. Falkner. Tell what made your web and you will be released. The truth always is hard to give up isn't it?"

Reggie lifted his head when she finished. 'It looks like I have no choice,' he thought with sorrow. "All right. Here's the truth. Do you all remember those times when I say that I have gels and other muggle stuff to change things like my hair and appearance? Also, like that time after we fought Arnold and we had to hide our wounds and I said I had a healing potion kit to hide them? Those were lies. The real reason that my appearance changes so often was because is because I'm a metamorphmagus."

Tyler and Jacke raised their eyes at this while Brad looked confused. Then all of a sudden, the webs surrounding Reggie started to disappear. Also, Reggie felt like the pain was being washed away from his body as the webbing was disappearing. He then walked over to Jacke with his head down.

"What's a metamorphmagus?" Brad asked.

"It's a rare ability. Some wizards or witches are born with the ability to change their own appearance at will. You know, like changing their hair color or the shape of their nose. Most changes like that require potions or concealing spells but if you're a metamorphmagus then you don't really need it." Jacke answered from below.

"Wow, Reggie, would did you hide something like that?" Brad asked.

"Yeah, you know we wouldn't have minded. I understand my secret of being a parselmouth but metamorphmagi aren't considered dark or dangerous."

"I don't really know. I guess I just wanted to keep it to myself. And I admit, if you guys did tick me off then I could've used it to spy or pull things over you and you wouldn't be the wiser. I also thought you guys might also be afraid that I would always do that."

"Ah come on." Jacke said slapping Reggie's back. "We wouldn't have done that."

"Well!" shouted Arachne and only then did they remember that they forgot they were in the middle of the fourth test. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way. I can move on." She moved over to Brad this time. "You have something that you're hiding from one or all of your friends."

"I do," Brad said nodding his head.

"Well, you're taking this nicely."

"Yeah well, when you were interrogating Reggie, I thought that I should search within myself for something that I've been hiding and I realized that I'm hiding something from Tyler and Reggie. I've already told Jacke but that doesn't mean that I'm not still feeling the effects of keeping this on my conscience."

When Jacke heard that, he was pretty sure what Brad was talking about. He had just told him only yesterday what he'd been holding out on for a while from Reggie and Tyler. Reggie and Tyler were looking at Brad and wondering exactly what he did that might upset them.

"I told my friend Hawkster Jones all about us getting the Potion of Fecundity some time ago and what it does."

The webbing came immediately off. Tyler and Reggie had shocked expressions on their faces. Reggie's didn't last long since he was in the same boat as Brad and he knew the reason that he didn't have webbing on that was because he only told Laura yesterday. Tyler couldn't help but feel like Brad just told him that he said a personal thing about them. Boy, would he get it when he came down.

"Well, I'm impressed with you Mr. Carter. You are a real honorable human to have cut yourself free on the first time. Now, let's see if Mr. Slytherin fares like you or can even get himself free." She crawled over to where Tyler was now and indicated that it was his first try.

"I've told them everything, I mean, what else is there?"

"Nope, you've lied to them about something." Then Tyler started to scream from pain. "Another chance."

Tyler managed to think while he was in pain. What could I have lied about? My first and second year, I told them about who I was and everything. This year, I didn't lie about anything, I even kept my word on the wands and…' Tyler eyes sprang open after the torture was done. 'That's it.' "Alright. I know. Okay, guys, I lied about the way I got your wands, I didn't get them in Diagon Alley. I found them in the secret chamber in my house. I was told that those wands belonged to the founders and I wanted you to have them as a bond between all four of us!"

The webbing let Tyler go and Arachne vanished into the floor and the bars followed her example. Tyler came down and felt like the pain washed away from him and he went toward his friends.

"I think I have some more to tell you guys," he said looking each one in the eyes. All three were deeply surprised when they learned that they each had their houses' founder wands in turn and also surprised when Tyler told them that he had his ancestor's wand too. He told them all about what he learned the day he found them and everything of how they were found in the Deep Level at his house and what Guardian had told him.

"Do you know what this means?" Brad said after Tyler was done explaining. "This means we have another gimmick for our group." He looked at his wand after he said this.

"Huh?" Tyler said surprised. He wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah, our wands are kind of like our own badges in a way for our group," Jacke said looking at his wand closely.

"Still, I can't believe that all four of us have the Hogwarts Four's wands. It feels kind of weird. Cool but weird," Reggie said also looking at his wand.

"You guys aren't mad I kept this from you?" Tyler said also pulling out his wand for good measure.

"No mate," Jacke said looking at his wand and him. "We're surprised but not mad. You could've told this from the start. I mean, you just gave us all something else that bonded us together even though we're in different houses." Brad and Reggie nodded in agreement with smiles on their faces.

"Oh, well, I wanted something else to bond us together and I guess you liked what I did. But anyway," he said starting to raise his voice a little. "I think someone has something to explain too," he said narrowing his eyes at Brad.

"Not only him," Reggie said looking at his feet. "I have something else to tell you guys. If Arachne's test has taught us anything then I shouldn't keep lying about something and have you guys upset that I lied and/or tried to cover it up by avoiding it."

Brad and Reggie told them all about telling Hawkster and Laura, in turn, what they revealed. Tyler was more angry with Reggie now then with Brad. Reggie said that he had Laura swear to him that she wouldn't reveal Tyler's secret about his family and that after they get out of here, that he could bring Laura to him and see for himself if she's trustworthy or not. Brad also took that as a signal to say that he'll do the same with Hawkster to show that they could trust him too.

"Okay," Tyler said. "We'll see if they can be trusted with my secret or not. Now we'll have to get going." When Tyler was listening to what Reggie and Brad had to say, he did feel angry and betrayed that they revealed his secret but it wasn't strong. He was filled with another emotion that overpowered those two: Jealousy. He was jealous that they let the secret off their shoulders to friends that they thought were noble enough to keep about him. He wished he could tell Regulus, Sam, Matt and Morgan. The talk he had with his godfather Timothy on if he told others made him think that he didn't give his slytherin buddies enough credit on their loyalty than they were truly worth. He would have to work on that. He also didn't know that Jacke was having similar thoughts on a pair of Gryffindors.

They moved on until they came to a room that looked as if it was completely made out of gold. It was remarkable how everything glowed. The worst part was the seekers couldn't think or admire the room at all. They were busy covering their noses because a horrible odor was covering the room. It smelled like the toilet after use and week old sweat mixed. In a corner of a room, was a shadow outline of a figure. It looked a foot taller than the four of them and it started to move into the light. When it did, it was the strangest thing that they've seen in these trials yet.

It had a head of a giant pig or a boar with tusks looking as though they were plucked from an elephant. His eyes were pitch black and his nose wiggled with slime shining on it. His feet were hooves and his arms were hairy and muscular with claws on the hands. He was dressed in battle armor complete a battle helmet that failed to cover his face to their inconvenience. When it spoke, it even had a boar's voice.

"I am Ram. The tester for the fifth obstacle. Do well as listen to my words and realize that you won't get pass me like you had with my other brothers and sisters."

"You're all related?" Brad asked completely shocked by this.

"I was speaking spiritually fool!"

"Sorry." He said before stepping back.

"Good, now, you must choose one among you to fight against me one on one. This battle is unlimited with how you could fight."

The Seekers went into a huddle. "Whose the one fight piggy over there?" Jacke started.

"Well, we already said that Brad and I should try to keep the two of you as fresh as we can. Brad, you're still fresh as it is. Why don't you?"

He considered and saw that it was the reasonable reason. "Yeah, I guess I should Reggie. I haven't really fought yet. I also have my water powers unshackled by the earth spirit so I could make real water now and who knows, I might teach myself new tricks."

"Don't forget. Your transfigurations skills are great. Remember the tournament second year? You went all out with them."

"Thanks Tyler," Brad said rubbing his hair and feeling a little embarrassed. "I'll fight you Rams," Brad said moving toward him.

"Very well. But you must choose an ally to be behind your fighting."

"Choose someone to be behind me? What do you guys think he means by that?"

"He must be talking about a second in case you can't go on," Jacke said.

"I guess so. Then I choose Reggie. Are you okay with that mate?"

"Yeah I do. We have to keep Tyler and Jacke as fresh as possible. They are the best duelers among the four of us so we have to do our best," he said as he stood about five feet behind Brad.

"Why do I feel like they're cutting us out from the fun Tyler?" Jacke whispered to him.

"Give it time Jacke. Would you rather have all four of us worn out when the biggest and baddest of these guys comes up against us instead of us having them at our full power?"

"Good point."

Back with Rams and Brad, Rams wrinkled his nose and sounded like he was smelling something. "I can smell Helga Hufflepuff's scent on you. It's coming from you side."

"Oh yeah," he said moving his robe out of the way to show his wand. "That would be because I have her wand right here," he said having his eyes look at Tyler.

"Yes, I can smell Rowena Ravenclaw on your partner as well. I can even smell Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin on you two too." He said looking at Jacke and Tyler. "I see that you are their wand heirs. I hope you'll provide me with good entertainment like they did a millennia ago."

"We aren't the founders, we're the seekers and we aren't going to stand and let a butcher shop reject push us around," Reggie yelled defiantly.

"Now let us begin shall we," Rams gruffed. Brad took that as the signal to pull out his wand. "On my count to three is when we shall start. 1, 2, 3."

"_Averte Stature_!"

Rams ran toward Brad. He then jumped forward and rolled toward him to avoid the spell and had a fist that connected with Brad's stomach. He felt like the wind was just knocked completely out of him before he chocked back and said in a squeaky voice "_Flippendo_!" Rams was knocked back but Brad heard of huffing sound and looked back and saw that it was Reggie and he was clutching his stomach!

"What…Reggie what's wrong? You look like you got punched like me."

"Of course he did," Rams said from where he was.

"What?" Brad shouted. "What's going on? What are you doing to him?"

"It's really what you're doing to him Mr. Carter. You see, when I said to choose someone to be behind your fighting, I wasn't completely serious. Every blow that you take, your partner will also feel. If your partner should faint from the pain then you will too and lose this battle." Brad and Reggie both opened their eyes and mouths in shock at this. Tyler and Jacke were yelling and saying that Rams should've said that part at the start before Brad picked Reggie. "Well tough. You should've chosen Falkner to be the one actually fighting me with you behind Carter if you're fresher. Falkner still is recovering from his fight with my brother Shimroe. That means that he can't stand too much pain and his time in this is your time, not the other way around. He will share your pain and if he passes out before you could win then you'll lose. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,"

(---)

**End of Chapter 17**

Well, the fifth test and already they're starting to bite off more than they can chew. How can Reggie stay strong enough for Brad to stay in this when he's still recovering from the third test with Shimroe? Also, Reggie and Brad going to get by at all to make good on their promises to show that Hawkster and Laura can be trusted. Also, what exactly will the sixth and seventh obstacles be like. We'll soon see.

On another note, I hope all of you will have a good holiday. I'm sure in the spirit. Please send a review

High Serpent King.


	18. Silent Scope

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 18: Silent Scope

Reggie still clenched the spot where it was like he had the punch along with Brad. 'This is great. Every hit that Brad takes, I take as well. I don't think I can handle much after that fight with Shimroe. My arm is still sore and my body aches from flying so much. I never had to stay in my bird form that long and fight on top of that,' he thought with a lack of energy. "Brad, you have to watch for him. I don't think I can keep myself conscious for long."

"That's a big duh," Brad said shaking off the feeling that Rams's punch left. It really hurt but he couldn't stay still to nurse his wound with Rams there ready to make more.

Rams was smiling in pleasure, which was most likely to the thought of Reggie being scared for himself and Brad. Jacke and Tyler stood there with wishing that they could help but they knew that if they did then Brad would automatically lose since it's his test and not theirs. Also, they were wrinkling their noses because of the foul stench that Rams was giving off.

'Suddenly, my idea to let only me and Reggie keep going to keep Tyler and Jacke fresh doesn't seem to be a good one anymore," Brad said and he ran to dodge a punch coming at him. "

Rams extended his hand and a stick, which looked like it belonged to a broom, appeared in front of it and he gripped it and sent it straight into Brad's stomach. Brad fell back and Reggie clutched his stomach that now had pain. Brad was wincing at the force of the blow. He dropped his wand and put both his hands over Rams' face and released a gush of water that caused Rams to choke back on the water that went into his mouth and nose.

'He hit me close to where he got me the first time. I've had enough of this nonsense. It's time I show him the moves that I could do,' he thought with rage at the oversized boar warrior.

Brad sent out a stunning spell at Rams but he blocked it with the stick he conjured up. He launched the stick at Brad like a spear but Brad did a flip and avoided it, which astounded Tyler and Jacke at his move. Reggie wasn't that surprised Brad could do that since he used moves like that when he had trained with him and told him that he learned them from the lessons with his grandpa. Rams then charged at him like a bull but Brad pushed down on Rams' shoulders and flipped over him and Rams hit the wall leaving a big hole there where he pulled his head out leaving a gash of blood flowing through but he didn't seem to notice. When Brad had landed on his feet from the flip, he winced as he felt more pain from his stomach. He saw the pieces of golden rock chipped off the wall from where Rams hit it right underneath his feet and quickly transfigured them to bars of soap. Then he sent off a wave of water to make them slippery and Rams looked somewhat foolish slipping off them but still staying on his feet. This bought Brad time to clutch his stomach to make it easier to will the pain away.

However, the situation was getting critical. Brad relied on his martial arts knowledge to try and keep getting hit but Rams seemed to be getting more momentum as the match went on. Every time Brad tried launching a spell at him, Rams would deflect or dodge it. Brad was still taking hits and Reggie kept suffering along with him. "_Giaranshi_!" he aimed at Rams planning to immobilize him but he sidestepped it. "_Pungrespera_!" Brad shouted but Rams dodged the jinx easily.

'Damn. Rams is too fast. I can barely dodge his physical attacks. It's like trying to avoid a car that keeps doubling back trying to ram you. 'Brad looked at Reggie wincing in the pain and knew that he was trying his hardest to stay in it for him. 'If only there was a way to slow this walking pork chop down. He's so big and bulky but so fast and strong. You think with even that armor on he would be weighed down but…that's it,' he said looking at the armor Rams was sporting. 'I just hope that Reggie and I could stand a little more pain. I hate to put Reggie through more but my plan will no doubt have more pain.'

He let out his left hand and let out spouts of water that were impacting like water balloons. Rams was hit with a few of them and started to drip a little. Brad kept up the attack, trying to wet Rams as much as he could and wasn't applying the force needed for it to be painful, just annoying.

'What's Brad doing?' Jacke thought. 'Those attacks look like they wouldn't hurt a puffskein. I know Brad water powers are unshackled so now the water he conjures are real water now but how is getting Rams wet going to help? He can't fool around, Reggie can't take much more and keep himself in this for him.'

Tyler was as confused as Jacke. 'Brad's just soaking Rams with his attacks. If it were me, I would try shocking him and throwing spells at the same time. He's just making Rams all soggy and…wait…now I see,' he thought as he noticed the armor that Rams was wearing was starting to get darker with the under garment beneath the metal.

Rams, however, didn't stay still to play in the water. He ran at Brad snarling and had made a fist and charged through Brad's oncoming assault of water balls intent on doing serious and painful damage. Brad stopped launching water and tried to flip away but Rams' fist slammed into Brad's right arm causing him to do an incomplete flip.

Reggie let out a deafening scream at the pain that went through his right arm. It was the arm that was still injured from before. Reggie felt like his arm was burning his blood and making the hot blood run all over his upper body. He fell to his knees but was still conscious. He was trying to get himself to say through the pain, "Keep it together, Keep it together."

Brad didn't waste any time after he got hit. He ignored the pain in his wand arm to the best he could and waved his wand with an "_Averte Stature_!" following it knocking Rams back. He was knocked back but it looked more like he was pulled with his feet dragging 15 feet back before he stopped. When Brad got to his feet, he instantly had his face mirror that fact that he had started to concentrate as hard as he could. About three seconds later, an orb of eerie water blue and half his size appeared before him, which he immediately let loose on Rams like a jet of water released by a fire hydrant.

Rams was standing there amazed at the orb conjured by the boy and didn't have the time to dodge the rush of water that struck him from the chest up making him spit and sputter like when Brad's water went up his nose and mouth. He snarled when he regained himself and ran out at Brad. However, as he ran there were wet squeaks escaping him and it was noticed that he was moving slower than before.

Brad dodged his charge and smiled in the knowledge that his idea had just started to work. With all the water soaked up by Ram's armor, it was now higher in weight and was bringing his speed and agility down. "_Reducto_!"

His spell hit Ram's back and made a big dent on the armor there and forced Rams to taste the floor. He angrily got up and went out for Brad again conjuring a stick for both hands and moved in a fashion to behead Brad with one arm and strike his chest if he avoided the first. Brad knew he couldn't flip out of the way from both sticks so he quickly made himself a badger and easily saw the figure of Rams step over him. He transformed back and shouted a spell that he recently started practicing a week ago since he remembered how handy Arnold seemed to think it was. "_Manticulias_!" Rams dropped his two battle sticks when Manticules came and got his hands. However, unlike Arnold's spell, the Manticules he fired out didn't force him back or anything, they just were put on since Brad only had a week's practice with it.

"You bratty human! Get these things off me!"

"I happen to think they bring out your eyes better," Tyler said from the sidelines causing Jacke to start laughing and hide it behind a cough.

Rams snarled and focused his strength on shattering off the manticules. Brad didn't stand by to see if he could. He pointed his wand at Rams and said, "_Locomotor Mortis_!" Rams had his feet come together making him unable to charge any longer. But Brad was starting to wonder if his he had nerves like steel since he quickly shook it off to break his manticules.

'At least I made him helpless," he thought in desperately. That was before Rams pulled his arms apart and the manticules became scrap metal on the floor before disappearing. Rams put his body down and greatly leapt at Brad catching him completely by surprise and gave him a good kick in the chest with his bonded feet making him fly back a few feet just missing the wall while Reggie let out another scream and clutched his chest. Brad felt that his chest had disentragrated from that last attack.

Tyler saw Reggie was hurting and that Brad was starting to get worn down too. "Brad, get up!" Brad looked at Tyler and with great effort, rose to his feet while Rams tried to get up without the use of his feet with his arms. Tyler then changed his tone to a forcing one. "Good, now, Brad listen to me carefully. You're not going to defeat Rams unless you go to desperate measures. You have to use some of the more painful curses that I told you about. That armor that Rams has is strong so you have to break through it if you're going to beat him. Use them and quickly before both you and Reggie are grounded to dust!"

Brad didn't dare question Tyler when he used that tone of voice. He searched his mind, as Rams was getting up, on which of the spells that Tyler taught them was the most effective. Then the image of Tyler's fire whip curse came into flourishion. He remembered the incantation and readied himself and his wand. "_Inferro Cracke_!"

Brad's wand produced a shiny whip of yellow flame, which he cracked at the floor when it was done. Rams was now completely immobilized thanks to the Leg Locker Curse so Brad launched the whip out at Rams. The whip moved at Rams like a curvy wave and connected with his mid section of his stomach. Brad saw that his whip pierced the armor and cut into Rams skin because he started to scream. Brad can only imagine the pain of a strong force like a strong punch and burning feeling can be like together.

As Tyler saw Rams scream in pain, he remembered when he tried to use it against Jacke. He suddenly felt a little sick with himself that he tried to hurt his best friend. His whip's strength would've only made the spot he hit Jacke throb for a few days but still. He guessed that he wasn't thinking when he said that but he wasn't going to make excuses and would apologize to him after this.

Rams eyes fell back and he collapsed on the floor. His collapse triggered a squeaking sound and they saw that the bars came down to let them go on. Brad willed the whip to go away and fell to his two knees and started to breathe hard.

"Are you two okay?" Jacke said as he and Tyler ran to them.

"I feel like rhinos just stampeded right through me a hundred times and I think I have a busted rib but I'll live," Brad said coughing a little from the pain of those physical attacks that he started to really feel now that he didn't have the distraction of a battle to ignore them. "How's Reggie?"

"I'll live too," Reggie said holding his arm and wincing from the pain also in his chest.

Tyler went and lifted Brad up and helped him walk while Jacke did the same for Reggie. They went on for a while saying nothing until Tyler broke the silence. "Jacke?"

"What?" he said still helping Reggie.

"I'm sorry I tried to use the fire whip on you. You know, back in the chamber that day when we practiced with Basil? You could've been really sore for days if I hit you with it."

"Ah, forget about it mate. I didn't get hit so there's nothing to apologize for but thanks anyway."

"Yeah. You know Brad, I have to say, that was a good Fire Whip Curse you had."

"Thanks, that was really the first time I ever really tried it."

"Really? It looked pretty good for a first try. You're outdoing yourself."

"Ah, I had a good teacher with that spell," Brad said making Tyler a little embarrassed. "Tyler," he just said suddenly. "I know it might not be the best time to ask you this but, my parents and grandfather got tickets to go to New York City, in America, and I was wondering if you would like to come with us? Jacke and Reggie already know and asked permission and I'm bringing an old friend of mine back home too."

Tyler was very surprised and excited at this. He never had gone off to stay friends, let alone a trip with them. "Really? I've never traveled before. I would love to."

"Great. I've told them a lot about you three and I'm sure they'll love to meet you."

Tyler couldn't believe it. Actually spending time with his friends in a normal way without secrecy or distrust, just, a normal way friends usually did. But Tyler wondered exactly how much of himself did Brad tell his parents about. He and Reggie had already told a little too close to home and he was already nervous at that as it was. But his mind flashed to how he felt when he learned that the trial members here in the temple knew his last name and addressed him like a normal person. It made him feel…good with the fact that he didn't need to be on constant guard in this environment. What could it hurt if Brad's parents did know? They were muggles after all so it would be unlikely that they would immediately mark him as an evil wizard as soon as they knew his true surname.

'What the bloody hell," he thought shrugging his shoulders almost losing his grip on Brad. 'I'll try it out.'

Later on, they arrived in what seemed to be another room but it was different. The place was as big as the Great Hall back at the school. For a wild second, they thought they'd come outside. There was a sunny, blue sky above them where the roof should be. There was grass on the floor, which wasn't dirt but regular stone, and there were stone walls surrounding them, which was very strange to see. It looked like a meadow was brought indoors. The odd thing was that it was abnormally quiet compared to real meadows with birds, sounds of the wind and other noises; it was phenomenally quiet.

"Greetings young wizards," a strong sounding voice suddenly said. "I've been expecting the four of you."

From the far side of the room, a figure appeared before them. He looked more human then anything they've seen so far. He was the outline of a human except for the fact that his gray feet looked like they were a wolf's and he had the ears to match. Other than that he resembled a normal 18 year old. He had blue hair in big strands that was shoulder length, had deep yellow eyes, and was dressed in combat robes that were unlike Tyler's except they were red instead of green and also unlike his, had no hood. Over the robes was a metal plate for armor and metal shoulder pads. It was like seeing a wizard knight.

Tyler and Jacke let down Brad and Reggie down by the wall and stepped closer to the figure. Tyler was the first to talk. "And you are?"

"I'm known as Yalcone. I am the one who is assigned to give out the sixth task. I must say, you all look younger than I pictured."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Jacke asked smiling a little.

"Nevertheless, I am the one to get past in order to get to the holy creation power."

He raised his hand and out of the middle of nowhere, the ground started to shake a little and a big white line started to spring out and make a perimeter on the floor. It made a large rectangle right behind Yalcone and when the white line finished it work and connected the whole thing together, it glowed for a second. Brad saw that it looked the size of a full basketball court.

"Wow, that was brilliant," Jacke said with awe.

"That was nothing, could do it in my sleep really," Yalcone said really sounding like a typical 18 year old guy who just happened to have wolf feet and ears. "The task is that one of you must fight me in this dome. We must keep fighting unless we are knocked out or are forced out of the ring. You won't have to worry about death because this room is what you would call a Room of Life itself. Nothing that is within this room could die. I'll explain the twist after you've chosen who will be my opponent," he said in a manner like this would be a friendly man-to-man duel.

Tyler and Jacke kneeled down to talk with Reggie and Brad.

"Well, who's going to duel with Yalcone?" Brad asked.

"Obviously, it can't be you or I Brad," Reggie said with sarcasm. "Tyler or Jacke? One of you are going to have to fight but it's going to be hard to choose because we don't know how this duel will be like and you two have different styles. Not to mention that since this is the sixth trial, he's going to be a hard one."

"Yeah, but we'll deal with anything as it comes right Tyler?" Jacke said patting his back hard almost making him fall.

"That's right mate. Anything that Yalcone may do, we'll just find a way to beat him back, though, I'd probably do a better job."

Jacke narrowed his eyes at that while Brad clapped his hands. "Okay guys enough. How are we supposed to choose between you two?"

Tyler and Jacke just shrugged it off while Tyler picked a strand of grass from the floor and put his back to Jacke. "Jacke, he said while mixing the grass into one hand. I'm going to hold out my hands. Pick the hand that has the grass in it then you go, pick the empty one and I'll go. Deal?"

"Fine with me," he said shrugging.

"Must you decide that way?" Reggie said disapproving of their method. "We should think about this rationally."

"Honestly Reggie," Jacke said shaking his head. "How do you expect us to choose when you said yourself that we don't know how this duel will be fought so how could we possibly choose right?"

Reggie was sullied that Jacke had a real good point over him so he just breathed hard in frustration and didn't say anything else, leaving Brad smiling at Reggie's defeat. Tyler turned around and extended out his closed palms. Jacke looked from each one for about a minute until he pointed to the left hand. Tyler opened the left hand and sure enough, the grass was there.

"Not to worry mates," Jacke said walking towards Yalcone who had been waiting very patiently all this time, "I'll get us to the next trial."

Yalcone smiled when Jacke stood in front of him and announced that he would be his opponent. "Well Mr. Walker, it should be an interesting match. The others have only come up against Misters Falkner and Carter so this should be a treat. Now for the actual rules for this match. You already know how to win as I just said it earlier but here's the rules for the actual fight. You could fight to the best of you abilities here," Jacke smiled at this since he would be able to use his best dueling charms, fire power, and animagus form, "but there is a catch." Yalcone finished making his face fall a bit. "This arena named "Silent Scope" is what most would call a mute ring. Once inside, there is no way to make a sound. You could still hear sound from the outside but nothing within these lines can make a sound. That sure to make it a difficult but exciting twist since one of the five senses will be useless in fighting your enemy. And for you three," he said pointing to Tyler, Reggie and Brad. "You could cheer for your friend but no direct help in our fight or it's a direct lose and you'll all be sent back to the entrance to the temple."

They nodded their heads and Yalcone stepped past the white line to their fighting space. When he stepped through, it was like a wave of light appeared from the line and went up to his body making him glow from the feet up until it disappeared at the top of his head. Jacke followed his example and stepped in where he had a glow to him as well before it disappeared.

Jacke felt that everything he knew was out of place in this arena. When he stepped past the line, he couldn't hear himself make sounds that came with his footsteps. He coughed but saw that he didn't make any sound when he coughed. It was downright creepy and weird. He then heard his friends' voices.

"Good luck Jacke," Brad yelled over to him.

"Think before you do something foolish alright," Reggie said after him.

"Show Yalcone how you work your magic mate," Tyler said giving him a thumbs up.

"Thanks," Jacke tried to say and the keyword was try. He opened his mouth but no sound came from it. It was very strange. Since he couldn't talk back, he simply gave them a thumbs up before he turned his attention back to Yalcone.

Yalcone released three lights in front of him with a wave of his hand. Jacke saw him get into a ready stance and he took that as a signal to get ready as he saw one of the lights flicker out. Then the middle one flicked off and then the third one disappeared and Yalcone started rushing toward Jacke with an arm extended out and his other behind him.

Jacke pulled out his wand, intending to use an _Incendio_ Flame Charm but no voice came out of his mouth and there was no spell. Yalcone took this opportunity to get to Jacke and lunged his pulled back hand into a very strong, forceful, hit with his hand flat right to the chest sending Jacke flying back a few feet. Jacke got up and tried yelling _Stupefy!_ to stun him but like before, nothing. Yalcone however, let out his hand and started to glow a crystal white. Then it disappeared everywhere after a few seconds but in his extended hand where a second more a ball of energy the size of his hand shot out and collided with Jacke flipping him more back and he landed face down.

Reggie's eyes could've popped as he was seeing this. "He has the same kind of magic attacks like Shimroe did during our fight as animals."

"That's not all," Brad said. "Jacke doesn't have a voice in that arena which means that he can't use his best charms or any other spell meaning that his wand is as useful as a regular thin stick of wood now."

Jacke got to his feet as best as he could. That hit reminded him of being whacked by Basil's tail or behind a strong Force Hex so he felt that if he could take those from Tyler, Brad or Reggie in their practice duels then he should be able to here. Jacke transformed into a lion and went right for Yalcone. He lashed at him with his claws in a jump but Yalcone jumped and rolled out of the way. Jacke immediately turned when he landed and charged after him. Yalcone pushed at his feet and stopped Jacke in his tracks. Jacke tried hard to force him back and at least bite him as he tried to get his head closer but it was getting harder. He saw Yalcone glowing again and soon felt force blasts coming from the two hands holding him back and it sent him flying. In mid-air, Jacke transformed back into his human self and hit the ground. Jacke quickly got back to his feet and to his astonishment, Yalcone vanished in front of him. He started turning his body like a maniac until about ten seconds later; he saw a glow at the corner of his eye where Yalcone's became visible again just before he sent another blast of energy.

Tyler, Brad and Reggie were watching on and their expressions reflected on how it looked like Jacke's chance of victory was getting smaller and smaller. They kept mumbling pleas of good luck as they saw Jacke get to his feet again.

Yalcone charged after him again but Jacke ran to avoid him. He pointed his wand behind him and sent green and gold sparks behind him that caused Yalcone to stop and wave them away with his hands. Jacke used that time to conjure a ball of fire in his hand taking almost three seconds, which he launched at Yalcone. He was hit on the arm making him forced back just like Jacke was a moments ago from Yalcone's attack but he just shrugged it off.

'Damn,' Jacke thought. 'If only I had my powers accepted or unshackled or whatever by the Earth's spirit then that fire could've been real fire instead of force and stronger. What am I supposed to do now?'

Tyler looked on in despair. 'If only Jacke could use spells with incantations then he would win easily against this bloke. The only thing that he's done wordlessly with his wand were those sparks but that won't be enough.' Then his mind went into something of a realization. 'There is one thing that doesn't require an incantation to work and even though it won't be as strong, it will still be very effective,' he thought with joy until it was drained. 'The only problem is…Jacke doesn't like using spells that are too dark and the Fire Whip Spell is a highly dark one that Jacke said he wouldn't use ever when I taught it to him.'

(---)

**End of Chapter 18**

Dark672: Thanks for your review.

Ellar Shadow Raven: Glad to have your opinion and I hope you'll review on my story again. Saw your second story that you posted and I loved it. However, I couldn't give a review because my computer wouldn't allow it for some reason.

Author Notes:

Well, Jacke seems to be in a real pickle. Tyler knows a way for Jacke to counterattack but he knows that Jacke would never use it because he doesn't like using dark spells like Tyler does. What will they do? You'll have to wait for the next chapter. I hope you all had a happy Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa and will have a Happy New Year. Please Review.

High Serpent King


	19. The Potion of Fecundity

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 19: The Potion of Fecundity

Jacke still stood there, completely shocked that his best course of action so far failed him. Yalcone was able to shrug it off. Sure, he was doing the same to Yalcone's but they did still hurt a little while it looked like Yalcone wasn't feeling anything close to sore. Yalcone started to glow again and when he extended his two hands right behind another, he let out a sphere of energy that Jacke felt was stronger than any he'd fired so far. Jacke let out a scream that would've been loud had it not been for the Silent Scope's effect. He didn't even make a sound when he hit the grass.

"Come on Jacke, get up!" Brad yelled.

"This is bad. Yalcone looks as tough as a rock. His agility and magic is unbelievable. How's Jacke supposed to beat him. His talent is in his dueling charms and spells but he can't use them here."

Tyler didn't say a word. He was busy staring at the form of his friend suffering from the pain of that last attack. It looked like Yalcone was holding back a little to see just how strong Jacke was. His dueling strategy was similar to Reggie's; hold back and observe how your opponent fights to see his moves and his strengths and weaknesses. He knew that Jacke was capable of beating Yalcone but the big problem was that would he be willing to use what he had to in order to beat him.

Back at the fighting floor, Yalcone was on his feet with an air of superiority on himself. He raised his hand and all of a sudden, letters of a glow like his attacks started coming out of the palm of his hand.

"Well Mr. Walker, I must admit that I'm quite dissatisfied. From what I've heard about you, I expected a spectacle but instead I'm finding a regular weak wizard boy toying with things he has no grip on."

Jacke looked up and gritted his teeth at reading that. Of course, Yalcone couldn't tell that his teeth were gritting because they weren't making a sound. He continued with his message with the magic words.

"I am perfectly willing to stop whenever you want. All you have to do is cross your hands in a way saying "That's enough" and I'll let you free without getting hurt further. Of course, you'll be cast out but I don't see you having any choice. After all, you don't have anything else that could be of use as I've shown that your previous attempts were ineffective." Yalcone then waved his hand and the words vanished in puffs of glowing sparkled smoke.

'I don't know what else to do,' he thought in despair. Jacke looked at Yalcone and looked at his friends, especially at the injured Brad and wounded Reggie. 'But, if I give up then Reggie and Brad got hurt and went through all that pain for nothing. I'm not going to be selfish and give in when I can still keep going. But…I might as well pick at the grass and throw it at Yalcone because all my other attacks were useless. If only I could say incantations then I could fertilize the grass with him.'

Jacke fired a fireball from his hand and Yalcone didn't even flinch when it came toward him. He simply knocked it away with his right hand and Jacke looked with horror as his attack hit the ground right of Yalcone. Yalcone took his hand and rubbed it softly like someone gave him a slap there. Then he started to glow and let out a magical energy that looked the size of the fireball Jacke fired; Jacke took this as a sign to leap away as the blast hit the ground making bits of the ground shoot up four feet and give off a dusty smokescreen.

'I can't take this anymore,' Tyler thought scratching his head. "No more!" This caused both Yalcone and Jacke to turn their attentions from each other to him. "Look, I know a way for Jacke to at least stand a chance. There is a spell strong enough to use in dueling that you don't need an incantation to use. It's his best bet to beat Yalcone so we could move on. The problem is, it's a class of spell that I know he would detest using but you have to understand that if Jacke doesn't use it then he won't even scratch Yalcone. It's a spell of the dark arts that I showed you all: The Fire Whip. You're going to have to trust me in saying that it's the only hope. If he doesn't want to use it then he doesn't have to but if I were him then I wouldn't want to be the selfish one that let Reggie's and Brad's hard work go to waste because of having cold feet at using a kind of shady spell even though my best friend uses it and isn't any different. Is the Gryffindor seeker going to have to say that to them? Well?"

Reggie turned his head to Jacke with a bemused expression and thoughts ran through his mind. 'Tyler's spell would be able to give Jacke a chance to beat Yalcone but I don't think Jacke would use it. He did tell Tyler that he would try not using any dark spells when he taught it to us. He said that he'd stick to his charms and to dueling spells that weren't dark. I guess Jacke is going to have to bend a little for this. The fire whip is his best chance to win but it doesn't look like Yalcone is going to give Jacke time to think on this so he'll have to choose quickly.'

Brad wasn't looking at Jacke like Reggie does but looking at Tyler. 'I think Jacke would do good and listen to Tyler,' he thought. 'When I used it, I didn't really think any differently and I knew it was a highly dark spell. It felt like I was using a regular whip but the only difference was that it was of a yellow, hot glow. I know Jacke's feeling to using dark magic but he has to see that the dark spell the Fire whip is really no different then using his elemental powers and that's supposed to be a very high bit of dark magic. And why the bloody hell is Tyler yelling like Jacke doesn't hear him since Yalcone said that they would be able to still hear noise from outside the arena's boundary but couldn't make noise inside it.'

Jacke had looked down at his feet but not really looking at them considering everything Tyler had just said. 'I…I don't know.' Jacke then looked over at Reggie still suffering a broken arm and Brad who still was hurting from broken ribs. 'Tyler is right about Reggie and Brad. They suffered so much to give us this chance and if I don't try everything that I can then I would've made them go through all that for nothing. The fire whip is my best bet and Brad used it and he's still the same and Tyler's used it a lot and he's still the same guy too. But, dark magic has caused so much suffering and I don't want to use anything that done so much wrong for the wizarding world already.' He looked at Yalcone and saw that he was getting ready to attack again since he was starting to glow meaning another magic attack. He also looked back at Tyler and caught his eyes. Tyler had a look of determination and concern in them and with that Jacke made his decision. 'Okay, now how do I use the Fire whip without saying the incantation again?'

**_Flashback_**

The Seekers were inside the Slytherin Chamber on a past weekend and Tyler was in front of them demonstrating the spell while the other seekers were sitting on the floor watching.

"This Fire Whip Curse is one that I find really handy. I even used it against that slimeball Arnold last June. Shame he blocked it. If you aren't skilled for using whips you don't have to worry since your own fire whip can't harm you if you accidentally get it to touch you when you're using it. Anyway, the whip comes out with the incantation _Inferro Cracke_." Suddenly a whip that looked like a string of red fire extended from the tip. "It's makes a whip of fire, (it's color is varies from wizard to wizard), come from your wand. After you get it out, keep hold of your wand and swing it at the opponent like it was a regular whip and to make it go away you just have to wish it away." He made it go away. "But this spell has more to it. You could use it without an incantation just by concentrating on it. The best way is to visualize that you have a whip in your hand that just glows and it'll come out for you. The drawback of that is that is won't have the fiery pain of the fire but it will still hurt greatly and the victim would probably have to stay in the hospital bed for about a day than with the incantation which would've been around a week." He brought his wand down like it was the handle of a whip that he just cracked and suddenly the fire red whip came out again.

Then Jacke got on his feet. "Thanks for showing us that spell mate but dark spells aren't really my style. Sorry."

Tyler looked at him and nodded. "Sure…but it's still good to know if you ever need it."

_**End of Flashback**_

'Looks like it's that time,' Jacke thought as he brandished his wand. He visualized himself holding a whip and suddenly he saw a glowing light coming from the tip of his wand and soon appeared a stream of emerald green fire escaped the tip about 4 feet long. "Wow," he said inaudibly from his soundless mouth.

Yalcone was still glowing and his eyes traveled to the whip of fire that was connected to Jacke's wand but he seemed to have regained his composure and extended his hand where he let out another of his magic energy attacks. It came at Jacke like an orb but Jacke moved his fire whip to get in it's way and the whip made contact. It looked like the whip knocked the ball of energy away like in baseball. The energy ball made contact with the ground and shattered it. Jacke took Yalcone's moment of surprise and ran at him and swung his wand making the whip hit him on the side. Yalcone's eyes popped out from pain, his wolf ears twinged and he staggered a little backwards before he charged at Jacke Rams did with Brad.

Tyler saw that Jacke would need a little more help so Tyler yelled as hard as he could. "Here, catch this!" Tyler threw his wand over in Jacke's direction and using his seeker reflexes, caught it with his free hand.

Jacke took his right hand with the fire whip in tow and swung at Yalcone. Yalcone was a little too far for the whip to reach him unless it went straight. 'Hmm…since this whip is of fire then…" He concentrated on getting his whip to move straight forward instead of a curve like he did with manipulating real fire and to his astonishment, the whip moved forward on his command. The tip struck Yalcone in the chest making him stop and wince. Jacke used that to concentrate on having a fire whip in Tyler's wand and just like a natural, a blood red whip came from Tyler's wand and he struck Yalcone from the left making him spin on his feet. Jacke then raised both wands above him as high as he could go and brought them down hard. The red and green whips struck down on Yalcone's shoulders and his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground. Jacke fell to his knees breathing hard from exhaustion and saw that the passage to go further into the temple was now unsealed.

Tyler ran into the arena and pulled Jacke out and then spoke once they stepped out of the boundary. "Jacke, you did it!"

"Yeah, oh and here," he said handing him back his wand. "Thanks for the loan. I appreciate it. You know, it's good to finally hear the sound of my own voice again."

He helped Jacke over to where Reggie and Brad were and Brad spoke out. "Jacke, can you walk by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'm a little sore but I should be able to help one of you guys walk like before." Jacke cast one last look at Yalcone's unconscious form before he went over to Reggie to help him up since he was still to injured to go anywhere on his own.

"I can't figure out why you didn't lose," Reggie said stroking his chin in thought.

"What do you mean Reggie?" Jacke asked as he helped him up and started to help him walk.

"Well, didn't Yalcone say that we couldn't interfere in your fight?"

"No he didn't," Tyler said as he helped Brad up. "Yalcone specifically said that we couldn't DIRECTLY interfere in the match. All I did was yell my opinion and throw my wand into the ring. I never directly helped in any way right," he said with a devilish grin.

"So much like a Slytherin," Reggie said shaking his head.

"Slytherin, check my name and house," he said thickly causing everyone to laugh.

"Honestly, Tyler, you are a sneaky genius, you know that?" Jacke said to him helping Reggie go up a flight of stairs that they came across in the passage.

"Stop, you're all going to make my head big," he said trying his best to sound modest.

"You mean that it's not already," Brad chuckled making Jacke and Reggie stifle laughs too.

"Very funny, really funny. I think you want to get up these stairs and passageways by yourself with those broken ribs." This shut Brad up.

Jacke held Reggie tight as they went up the steps but his vision got foggy and then he slipped out of reality. He was greeted by the sight of a beautiful woman that seemed to be glowing in warm light.

"Jacke Walker, I have decided to let your powers of flame be unshackled to realize your true potential."

"Wait, this sounds familiar, aren't you the spirit of the earth?"

"Yes. I see your friends have told you of me. You have proven your worth to me Jacke Walker. You manipulated fire created from your natural wizard casting powers like it was regular fire. Impressive."

Jacke blushed a little from that comment and before he knew it, he felt himself fall back where he was standing on the steps and heard Reggie's voice.

"Are you deaf Jacke? Can we keep going please?"

"Oh sorry, I lost myself."

"The spirit of the earth huh?" Brad said looking over to him with knowing eyes and a smirk to match.

"Know it all."

"Hey, I recognize the symptoms. Spacing out, no responding to anything in the outside world, having a dazed look on your face, an elemental. All those things point things point to the spirit of the earth. I mean I've seen it two times already and it's happened to me."

"Great," Tyler said breaking Brad's rant. "Now everyone's powers get idolized but mine."

"Relax, I'm sure you'll get yourself accepted by her soon enough."

As they went on, the passage seemed to include more stairs that went up and down. The time was passed by Jacke talking nonstop about his fight with Yalcone. He made comments like "Did you see me with those whips?" or "I liked how I hit his attack away like a baseball." This comment surprised Brad since he didn't think Jacke knew what baseball was but told him that he'd seen the muggle kids in his neighborhood play it from time to time. They kept going on through the path until they came to a large statue of what seemed to be Orichai. There was a metal lever coming from his left hand of the statue and Tyler reached out and pulled it. The statue flew up the wall as it was a doorway and behind it was a stone passageway that maze like because they could see corridors and directions ahead.

"Greetings," came a voice. A sphere of light appeared before them and it was hard to keep staring at it without blinking away. The voice seemed to be coming from it like it was alive. "Welcome to the final test. It is very simple to follow. You must simply find your way through the maze. At the end lies what you've been seeking. May you have good luck." Then the light simply blinked away leaving the four of them ogling the spot.

"We just have to cross the maze? That doesn't seem so bad," Brad said shaking his head.

"I wouldn't be so sure. Either this maze is endless or there are things in there to make it hard for us to go through. This is the last trial and you could bet that this is supposed to be the hardest of them all." Then the way they came from sealed itself up again leaving them with only one option. Tyler turned to face the three of them clearly. "Look since all three of you are too hurt or tired for fighting anything then I'll have to do it. If we run into anything then let me handle it. Try not to draw attention to yourselves if you do, alright?"

Each of them answered yes in their own way and they went into the maze. Jacke pointed his wand to the floor and said "_Colvis White_" which made blops of white paint splatter on the floor like oversized raindrops. "This way we'll know if we take the same way twice."

"Better than leaving bread crumbs," Reggie said looking at the paint.

They continued walking through for five minutes without seeing anything until they saw blobs of white paint again.

"This is no good. We're not going to find the end of the maze this way. We don't have a clue which way the exit is anyway. For all we know it's right next to us." Reggie said with a hopeless tone.

"There has to be a way," Tyler said stroking his chin and looking around. He spotted that the walls of the maze only went up around eleven feet. "Reggie, transform into an eagle please We're going to see over the maze walls.."

Reggie looked at Tyler like he was a slow learning, aggravating person. "Tyler, in case you forgot, my arm is still sprained. I won't be able to fly around and find the exit."

"No, I know that. I'm going to transform into a snake and become as big as I could get and you'll be on my head getting a look where the exit is."

"Whoa," Jacke said nodded his head. "Smart move."

"Thanks. So Reggie, you ready?"

Jacke loosened his grip on Reggie's shoulder and let him transform into his eagle form. Then Jacke carried Reggie and put him on top of Tyler's head where he started to become a long spiny snake. He reached his maximum size and rose himself as high as he could to let Reggie see over the maze walls. Reggie saw a glimmering light far off to the right and cawed to let Tyler know he found it. When they went back to their human forms he spoke.

"Tyler, I saw it. The exit off in that direction," he said pointing the direction of where he saw the exit doorway.

"That way," Tyler said pointing his finger to meet where Reggie was pointing too. After a nod from Reggie, Tyler released a sparkling thunder ball and fired it in that direction. It stayed in the air like it was a star. "I'll leave that orb that so that we'll be able to see the way we have to go at all times."

"What a well lit idea," Brad said chuckling.

They walked over in the direction that Tyler's orb was shining with Jacke still leaving his paint trail behind as they walked. "This seems easy Tyler. I'm sure we'll be at the end in no time now."

As they turned into a corridor they found a suit of armor with a long silver sword walking back and forth blocking the path ahead like a guard. When it heard them, it turned to them and raised it's sword above it's head.

"You and your big mouth Jacke," Tyler said softly. The armor went toward them with clinking metal footsteps. "Get back, let me deal with this." He prepared his wand and readied himself for the fight. "_Averte Stature_!" His spell went and knocked the headpiece of the armor off but it was still charging at him. "_Expelliarmus_!" The sword flew out of it's hands but the suit of armor didn't stop running at him. Instead, it just put its hands out looking like it would want to go and choke Tyler instead. Tyler froze at how it still came at him.

Jacke pointed to the floor ahead of Tyler and shouted "_Scourgify_!"

The suit of armor slipped from the soapy floor and landed with a clang on the floor.

Tyler let out of breathe of relief. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Jacke answered back.

Tyler went to the suit of armor and yelled "_Reducto_!" The suit of armor shattered apart like a puzzle masterpiece was crashed into. 'I don't know why I didn't just do that from the start.' Tyler thought to himself as they continued walking with him leading the way. "Well since there was that guard then we must be on the right path."

"Yeah, which would mean that we should expect to run into more," Reggie said.

"I wonder what else is there in this maze," Brad added trying to walk on his own without Tyler's help since they needed Tyler up front.

When Tyler left at a fork, he was slammed to the wall by a big figure but it didn't seem alone. The others lingered back to see what it was and saw that it was some kind of giant bull creature. It reminded them of Rams but instead of looking like a huge boar, it had a bull's head, snout and two little horns sticking out behind its ears. It had a hungry look in it's eyes and was exhaling roughly. Right behind it, was a copy of it but instead had an elephant's head with small tusks behind the small trunk. These creatures looked so strange since they had the shape of humans but had animal heads and skin.

Tyler collected itself and stood up just in time for that bull to collide his elbow with Tyler making him fly a few feet down the passage. 'No matter what…I still got to have enough focus to keep my lightning orb in the air,' he thought through the sting from the collision.

The bull and elephant monsters let out big puffy breaths as they slowly walked toward Tyler that would've made anyone's spine tingle in intimidation. Tyler sent a Reductor Spell at the one with the bull's head that seemed to cause a great deal of pain to it. He was letting out sounds like a cow clutching his chest but the elephant started to charge at Tyler when this happened.

Tyler didn't waste a second, as he raised his wand again and shouted "_Serpensortia_!" A snake erupted from his wand and flickered his tongue, waiting for a command. "_Quick! Hiss as hard as you can at that elephant and if that doesn't work, use you teeth on him!"_ He commanded. The snake made it's way up and gave off a deep hiss causing the elephant to let out a blow and run the other way. It ran smack into the still hurting bull creature where they flew off past the doorway where the others were and started fighting one another.

"What are you guys gawking at? Let's go while they're having their little fight."

They took off in the direction where the lightning that Tyler realized to guide them as the bull and elephant headed creatures were having their disagreement. Soon their sounds were gone allowing Tyler to catch his breathe.

"Are you alright mate?" Jacke asked with concern on his face. "You got rammed hard back there."

"I'll be fine. That was nothing compared to the ramming I get from my dad's snake Serpentine when we have a parsel duel. Are you all alright?"

"Yeah."

"We're okay."

"Fine."

"Good, alright then let's get moving."

They walked on and noticed that the number of corridors that were available without dead ends were shrinking, meaning that the end of the maze was near. To help save them time and surprise attacks, Tyler used his Snake Creation Spell to make more snakes and commanded them to fan out and search the corridors and report back if they found the exit. They stayed there waiting for any snakes to return until Tyler caught a scream from one of his snakes that he ran toward with his friends yelling for him to slow down. Tyler looked up and saw that they were coming to be almost directly under the lightning orb he sent up meaning that the scream could've been one of the snakes had found the way out. Tyler didn't really need to look up since he could sense his own lightning attack but it was still reassuring to look at.

Tyler turned one more direction and saw the lit up point that Reggie found. In front, he saw the snake being devoured by what seemed to be a zombie. It had leaf green skin with blood red circles here and there and had blond hair at ear level. It had two eyes that were twice as big as normal with one nearly out of the socket. It let off a stench off rotten meat and had slime dripping off it's skin. Its teeth were all covered in the snake's blood and it was chewing the snake skin in its mouth like a hippo with grass.

When the others got there, Brad let out a surprised scream that made the zombie walk toward them.

"Stay back and don't do anything to draw its attention to you!" he ordered at his friends. Tyler pulled his wand fast and shouted, "_Inferro Cracke_!" His red flaming fire whip appeared from the tip which he drove at the zombie knocking it's shoulder clean off with blood splattering from the wound and broken appendage on the floor. The zombie didn't even seem hurt as it just bended down, picked it's arm up and snapped it back to where it belonged and let out a sick roar from it's mouth.

Reggie and Brad had shocked and scared expressions on their faces after that while Jacke looked like he was going to throw up.

Tyler felt disgusted by that display and fired a Reductor Curse but it simply went clean through the zombie leaving a hole where it hit at his stomach. The zombie ran for Tyler and grabbed him by the throat.

Choking sounds escaped his mouth but his friends were rooted to their spots. Even if they could remember how to move their legs, Tyler told them to stay away and that's just what they were doing.

Tyler couldn't raise his wand through the pain and through the stench that smelled stronger than before. Tyler felt his wand slip out of his hands as his eyes started to turn red and water. Tyler looked up and saw the light from his lightning orb guide and his eyes opened up at it. He focused as best as he could through the pain and made the orb come crashing down and manipulated it to go into the zombie's mouth. The zombie let go of Tyler and clutched his throat. He manipulated his lightning orb to expand and implode from the inside of the beast. Then, suddenly, without warning, the zombie exploded from the inside and his body spread everywhere and the front of Tyler's combat robes were splattered with blood and zombie slime.

Jacke, Reggie and Brad would've laughed at the sight had it not been so sickening. They all wanted to hurl right then and there, Tyler included but they felt that getting away from there would be the best way to shake off the grotesque sight of the zombie's destruction. Jacke muttered "_Scourgify_," at Tyler and cleaned him up from the blood and grime that had covered him which Tyler could've dropped to his knees and begged thank you for.

They made their way through the lit up exit and saw another statue of Orichai. Tyler repeated what he did before and pulled the lever and the statue rose up revealing the path ahead.

They came to a circular room with a light shining from the top and concentrating on one point in the center, far side of the room. Before they could walk toward it, the glowing light that they saw at the beginning of the maze appeared before them.

"Well, I am surprised to see that all four of you have made it. I had my doubts but thou have shown me that you are worthy." The light suddenly made an outline of a person and the seekers saw the familiar figure of an old tiger faced, butterfly winged, human shaped figure step out of the light.

"Orichai!" they all yelled at the same time.

"Yes," he said nodding. "I'm here to say my congratulations at your skill. To think that you could get past my brethren and our tasks. You are wonderful wizard children. Now for what you've come here for." He led them off to where the light was shining at in the middle of the room and there was a huge golden goblet encrusted with gems, about big as a human head, standing on a stone pedestal. "Here is the power of creation or more commonly known as The Potion of Fecundity."

They looked inside the goblet and saw a thick, syrupy, yellow liquid. For the first time since they reached the temple, they let their guard down and just stared at the wonder around them.

(---)

**End of Chapter 19**

Nightlit: Thanks for your review. As for the obstacles being ridiculous. It was rather hard to think of things guarding something like this. The fact that these obstacles were more than a thousand years old also made limitations on what I could bring in. Sorry.

Tigercub15: Great to see you've caught up. I hope you don't miss more in the future and sorry about your computer problems.

Author Notes:

Well, they did it. They finally got to the potion. But now that they have it, what do they do with it? They already have a plan on what to make but how exactly will they use the potion to make it. And how will the rest of their year go. In case you've all forgotten, it's still the day after Christmas for the Seekers. You'll have to stay tuned for the next chapter to find out the answers.

Also, hope you all had a happy new year. Goodbye 2004 and hello 2005. Please review.

High Serpent King


	20. Trust or Not to Trust?

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 20: Trust or Not to Trust?

The seekers stared at the goblet, admiring its mystifying feeling and even the beauty of the golden goblet that it was in. Orichai seemed to understand and didn't say anything to draw their attention for a while before he cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry to draw you away from the Great Power but I can't help noticing that all of you seem injured."

"What gave it away," Tyler mumbled to Jacke, which almost made him burst out laughing.

Reggie gave them a pointed glare and spoke as politely as he could to Orichai. "Yes, we are still feeling those attacks from your brethren that we had to encounter. All of us are hurting."

"Well, for being such good boys."

He stopped talking and just brought out his wings. They started to have a glow to them and then a shower of sparks flowed from them right onto the Seekers. It felt warm and relaxing like taking a warm bath after a hard day. Reggie suddenly felt the tightness in his arm slip away and when he waved it, he didn't feel the pain that he got from the fight with Shimroe or feel the aftershocks of his bond in Brad's fight. Brad had a tingle throughout his ribs and was surprised to feel that they didn't hurt anymore from his trial with Rams. Jacke didn't have sore spots anymore and felt nothing that even suggested that he took a beating from Yalcone. The pressure on Tyler's throat and back were disappearing from the zombie and those bashing attacks that he took in the maze.

"You healed us?" Reggie said looking at Orichai like he was a strange thing, which he still sort of was.

"You just found that out," Tyler said smirking and causing Reggie to roll his eyes and suck his teeth.

"I believed that you earned it for going through all that," Orichai said cutting in. "You exceeded even my expectations. To believe that young children such as yourselves could get by all the tests and battles we have here."

"To be honest, we barely did," Brad said putting his hands inside his pockets. "Your brethren did a pretty big number on us through those trials."

"Regardless, you still passed them and at your current age. It's refreshing to see wizards especially the children of the old ways again."

"What are you talking about?" Reggie asked.

"Oh never mind that. You came for this goblet right. You have earned the right to take it children."

"Could you please stop calling us that, we have a name for all of us you know," Tyler said annoyed that he kept saying children to refer to all four of them.

"Well, what do wish for me to call all of you Mr. Slytherin?"

"We're the Seekers and you should do well to remember it," he said with nods of pride coming from his three friends.

"Seekers then, anyway, let me tell you a bit about this potion that you may not have discovered. As you can see, the potion flows in this sacred goblet that creates a drop of the potion every five years. As you probably know Mr. Slytherin, your ancestor along with the other founders of Hogwarts used this potion to shape the land outside and create their castle and grounds. They only used about a vile full of the potion to create it."

"A vile??!!" Reggie said astonished. "Such a big place like Hogwarts and it's grounds created and shaped with just a vile of this potion?" The others were finding it hard to make a sound even though their mouths were wide opened from shock.

"Yes, this power is strong. Didn't you notice some of the spectacular and powerful rooms in this temple? Each of us guardians used about one or two drops of the potion to create the rooms that we held the test in; as for I, I had to use three to create my maze."

He kept talking without giving them time to react to that amazing knowledge. "The founders heard of this and saw just how strong that this potion was. They decided to take a small amount of the potion to use in building their school since I told them it's potential power. They had made a building plan and had ideas for the surrounding grounds and I told them the amount they would need based on the plans they showed me. Anyway, you could take as much as you want, the whole goblet in fact if you desire."

"So what do you think?" Brad asked lowly to his friends.

"Yeah, I mean, we don't even have a plan on what exactly we're putting into our own place, so I think that maybe we should take a little now since we don't know how much we'll use." Reggie said trying his best for his friends to understand this logic.

"Your have a good point Reggie," Tyler said stroking his chin and making Reggie nod in satisfaction. "We don't what we're putting into this and we don't know how much we'll need so we better take the whole goblet."

"What? That's not what I really had in mind?" Reggie said a little shocked at Tyler's suggestion.

"Any one else object?" Tyler said turning from Jacke to Brad. They both looked at each other considering which one might be the better idea and then they shook no. "That settles it, we get the goblet."

"Fine, I guess you do have a point in taking the whole thing," Reggie said sounding defeated but it was clear he was saying it dramatically for laughs.

The seekers surrounded the pedestal with the goblet and they each went and touched it. Just in touching the goblet, they could feel a strong feeling coming from the potion. Tyler went and lifted the goblet and was surprised at how light it seemed since the goblet looked heavy from the gold.

Orichai spoke again. "Seekers, let me assist you in going back to the outside world." He held up his hands and the room reacted. It appeared that the walls and floors of the room were starting to melt and swirl. It looked like the room had liquefied around them and then all of a sudden, everything became solid again. The Seekers suddenly found themselves in the room where they had first entered the temple. They looked behind them and saw the portal entrance that they used to enter from the forest.

However, while this was happening, Tyler felt like he was spacing out and found himself in front of a beautiful woman that seemed to be glowing. Her blond hair moving behind her as if being carried by the wind even though there was no breeze that he could feel.

"Tyler Slytherin I presume?" it asked.

"Yeah…that's me. Are you…the spirit of the earth?"

"Yes, like your companions, I have chosen to let you have your powers unshackled as well."

"But why?"

"You've proven your worth with your skill when you maintained in keeping your lightning orb in place even though you were distracted and were in battle. Then using it after such a long time after releasing it, in the battle you were with the zombie creature. For this, I have seen that you are worthy."

Then Tyler's consciousness returned to the temple where he saw that they were in the room that they started in.

"Thank you Orichai," Jacke said appreciating the fact that they didn't have to walk all the way back to the entrance.

"I believe that you would best be off now," Orichai said waving a hand toward the exit. "Please, return if you desire it, I would enjoy seeing you all again one day if I could. Also, one last warning, use that potion with care, it is very powerful as I just told you of what it has accomplished."

The four of them experienced the feeling of walking through the water like portal and found themselves back at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Clouds had darkened the sky and a few flurries were falling. Jacke was the last to step out and when he did, the chalice diagram that they tapped to open it stopped glowing. Jacke put his hand back through and saw that the portal was closed since it didn't disappear.

As they walked across the grounds, they made sure to keep Tyler behind them so they could block off the potion's view from anyone that happened to walk by. Reggie let out a yawn and asked what time was it. Brad checked his watch and said that it was almost 6 o'clock meaning that they were in the temple for almost 8 hours.

"So Tyler, where are we going to keep that," Jacke said pointing to the goblet in Tyler's hands.

"I think that maybe putting it in the Chamber would be the best thing to do now."

"Good, that way we're sure no one would accidentally find it or steal it," Brad said tirelessly as he stared at the potion.

The four of them made it to the second floor bathroom running only into one or two students. Tyler pressed close to hide the potion under his combat robes while his friends positioned to hide the sight of Tyler's hands succeeding in eluding them. Thankfully, the ghost of Moaning Myrtle wasn't in the bathroom and Tyler opened the chamber and set the rope without incident. Brad then broke off a piece of one of the wooden stalls and transfigured it to be a cover for the goblet so none of the potion would spill when they went down.

"Guys listen," Tyler said as they were walking toward the snake door entrance. "I saw the spirit of the earth before we left the temple."

"You did? That's great!" Jacke said as low as he could without classifying it as shouting.

"I can't believe it. You saw her huh? Wasn't she…just wonderful," Reggie said grinning in spite of himself.

"You git," Brad said elbowing him and grinning. "Guess that means we all got our elemental powers unshackled. Now you guys can create real wind, fire and lightning like I can create real water instead of just a magical force that looks like it."

"They can be real handy. We have quite a collection among us huh mates," Reggie said. He brought a good point. Having fire, wind, water and lightning powers, the four of them could do some big things with those among with their other talents.

Tyler placed the potion in the room beyond the secret storeroom inside the chamber, on the middle stand where they found the map to the potion in the lit up room. He caught sight of the items in the other two pedestals in there but just shrugged and made mental notes to check them another time because he was too excited and busy with the potion.

(---)

"Alright, now that we've put the potion away, let's get back to the ones you told the truth to," Tyler said before taking another bite of mash potatoes.

They were in the Great Hall, eating their dinner, after they came out of the chamber. They were on the far off side of the single long table so they wouldn't be overheard.

"Okay," Brad said letting out a deep breath for the impending threat of a row with his friend. "I told Hawkster everything about the potion and later told him about us being elementals but I didn't tell him about how we found the map so he doesn't know about you being a parselmouth."

Reggie spoke next. "I told my friend Laura," he stopped to point her out and noticed that she was looking in their direction. "everything."

"Okay, when everybody comes back from the holidays, I want to see both Hawkster and Laura together to see if I can trust them myself or not. Can you two do that?"

"Trust or not to Trust? That is the question." Brad said earning a laugh from them.

"But still," Tyler said after he stopped. "Can you tell them that?"

Reggie and Brad nodded their heads and all four of them resumed the task of finishing what they thought was their well-earned dinner.

After dinner, Jacke pulled Tyler aside into an empty corridor by a statue of Barnabas the Barmy.

"Tyler, listen, don't get mad at me but…I want to tell my friends Jennifer and Max everything."

"What?" he said dropping his face into a stupor. He thought that the ones Reggie and Brad told were heart stopping enough.

"Look, after Reggie and Brad confessed about it, it got me thinking about my friends. Reggie…Brad…they both told their own friends and they seemed to think that it was right and was a good relief to get the secret off their shoulders. I…got jealous of them."

"Jacke, you know that I don't even like that Reggie and Brad went and told their friends and now you ask me if you could tell yours?" he said making Jacke look and admire his shoelaces. "Okay," he said after a while of letting Jacke fascinate his shoes.

"Yeah, I…what?"

"Tell your two friends." Tyler said with a straight face.

"But, you just said…"

"Yeah but you asked me if it was okay, Reggie and Brad didn't. And…I'm with you on the whole jealous thing too. The thing that really got me was that Reggie and Brad had enough faith to trust their friends with their secrets and I didn't have that for mine."

"So, I could really tell them? You're okay with it?"

"Yeah, but you'll have to bring them along with Hawkster Jones and Laura Collins. I want to check to see if I could trust them, okay?"

"Sure, I think they would be okay with that. They're out home for the holiday and I'll tell them when they come back. What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you said that you were jealous just like me. Are you going to tell your slytherin friends?"

"…Yeah, I am but not all of them."

"Which ones?"

"I think I'll only keep it with Regulus, Matt, Sam and Morgan."

"What about your other friend, Severus Snape?"

"There's a private thing between us so I don't think I can tell him because of it."

With that, Tyler went down towards the dungeons, for his common room. Jacke headed over to the portrait of the Fat Lady and after saying the password (Woodcracker Stack) entered the Gryffindor common room and headed for the 3rd year boys dormitory.

(---)

"Reginald Falkner, do you realize how many times you could've died!" Reggie's friend Laura yelled at him before giving him a good slap on the face.

She and Reggie were in the Ravenclaw common room after dinner and Reggie just told her the whole story in great long detail.

"Relax woman, please. I'm right here, okay and alive. Orichai healed us so no harm done."

"No harm done?! I think you're hanging around those risky friends of yours too much for your own good because you can't see that you were so close to dieing today. You promised you would be careful."

"And we were. Believe me, I was the most careful out of the four of us. I was the one who made sure they were careful too but we couldn't not get hurt with trials like those."

"Well, didn't you think to just walk away and try again when you brainless dogs were better."

"We came close when we considered that but didn't want to waste everything after we did get that far. Come on Laura, it's done already, we have the potion now so there's no use yelling about it."

"I'll yell WHENEVER I want, thank you!!!" Laura screamed with angry eyes at Reggie that made him shiver and flinch within. She breathed a little hard until she eased up and spoke softly again. "But I am glad that you are okay."

"I didn't think you cared that much," Reggie said smirking and raising his eyebrows in the way that he found attracted girls to him like bees to honey.

"You overestimate yourself," Laura said shaking her head. "I'm immune to your gorgeous antics," she said mockingly.

"Oh, you think I'm gorgeous?"

"Keep wishing," she said smacking the back of his head.

"Oh, Laura," he said now sounding a little serious. "Remember when I told you about the Truth telling Trial? Well, Tyler wants to see you after everyone comes back three days to see if he thinks that he can trust you with his secret."

"What? Why when everyone comes back. If he wants to see if he could trust me then why not now?"

"Brad told his friend Hawkster Jones and he's left for the holidays so he wants to wait for him to come back so he could see if he could trust you together."

"Oh…well okay. I would probably do the same thing in his place. He's not going to hex me or anything right?"

Reggie let out a laugh at that. "No, you don't have to worry about that. I would worry about me because if he finds that he can't trust you then he'll deal it with me and not you."

(---)

The days came and went and soon Hogwarts had students coming back through it's doors from their holiday at home. Tyler had told them to bring all of their friends to the site where their secret cave had been at 6 o'clock.

Brad pulled Hawkster aside when Hawkster arrived back in the Hufflepuff common room and spotted Brad.

"Hawk, listen…I need for you to come with me at 6 o'clock to see my friends."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"No nothings wrong. It's just that they want to see if they can trust you with what I've told you. You see, I told them over the holiday that you know about the potion and our powers and they want to see if you can be trusted."

"Whoa, isn't that a little too far. I mean, sure I can see why they would worry. You chums are all elementals and I don't think that can spread around and make you very popular in the school can it. Not to mention the whole super potion, by the way, did you guys get it?"

"Yeah and also…there's more." Brad pulled him out of the common room and headed for an empty boys bathroom to tell Hawkster everything. He explained about the Seekers being animagi, he explained about Tyler being a parselmouth and about his connection to both Salazar Slytherin and Lord Voldemort and needless to say, Hawkster was speechless. "I know it's a lot to take in but I think that I can trust you with this. Tyler trusted that the three of us with his secret and I don't want to let him down by giving it up to someone whose going to blab it off. Hawkster, please, don't make have failed in him trusting me with his secret."

Hawkster looked from Brad to his shoelaces and he seemed to be thinking very hard on this. "You went through this whole time knowing about a parselmouth all this time especially with You-Know-Who around and his cousin at that. I still can't believe that he's been around the school all this time and none of us even had a clue. Brad…you told me that your friends and especially Solemn or Slytherin, were your best friends. You said that they were great and I believed you and you know what…I still do," he said smiling after he finished.

"You mean you'll…after what you just said,"

"Yeah, I'll go with you and show your mate Slytherin that he could trust me and I'll admit it, I want to go see if **_I _**could trust **_him_**."

Brad laughed. "Trust me, you'll trust him and he'll definitely trust you."

"Wait, Brad, can I ask one favor?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you show me how you look as a badger?" he said looking very eager. Brad always liked his desire to always enjoy himself and have fun.

"Sure, why not." Brad said right before the spot where the thirteen-year-old hufflepuff was just replaced by a finely coated black badger.

"Wicked, you look just like our house emblem," Hawkster said looking from Brad to the badge on his robes.

(---)

"Are you serious Jacke?" Jennifer said with wide eyes.

Jacke was sitting on his bed in the 3rd year boys dormitory and had brought Max and Jennifer with him and put a silence charm on the door. Jacke just finished telling them everything from when the Seekers became elementals to what happened earlier in the week.

"You're making all this up. There's no way that you could be an animagus or an elemental of fire. You expect us to believe that. On top of that, you expect us to really believe that Solemn is You Know Who's cousin?" Max said like he found this to have been nothing more but creative storytelling.

"Look, I know that this seems hard to believe but if you guys need proof then I'll show you some." Jacke got up and went for a light up lamp. He narrowed his eyes in slight concentration and it lit up with a small flame. Max and Jennifer stared at it waved their hands to see if it was a real fire and were surprised when they felt it was hot. Jacke was secretly amazed since the flame he conjured happened to be the first bit of fire he conjured and was real fire. "I can do more than that." He raised the flame out of the candle and got it to make designs and spread it out and then made it disappear.

"You're…you're serious. It's all true. You're not joking at all are you?" Max said staring at the spot in the air where the fire disappeared.

"No. Look, I'm sorry. I know this must be hard for you to listen too. You probably think that the other Gryffindors were right in thinking that we were oddballs and that Tyler did possess us or something. I just wanted you guys to know about this because you're my friends and I didn't think I would be a good friend if I didn't trust you enough to tell you.  
That's all I have to say so you two can go ahead and say what you want now."

"Jacke," Jennifer said about two seconds after he finished. "If you think for a solid second that I'm going to tattle to a teacher after all this time then I swear that you're as dumb as you look," she said with an almost angry face but that's not what made Jacke speechless.

"What do you mean as dumb as I look?" he said in a challenging way.

"Jenny means that you're not a right sight to look at and think you're brilliant from your face," Max said chuckling at the look on Jacke's face.

"Wait," Jacke said forgetting to retort. "You guys are okay with all this?"

"Jacke, I'm not okay with it but you can trust me to keep it a secret. I've always felt that there was something like this between the four of you. You were always talking in low whispers and seemed to be hiding something and now I know what," Jennifer said looking boldly into Jacke's eyes.

"Jenny…you hate for this don't you?" That obviously wasn't a smart assumption because barely a second after he said that Jennifer slapped the back of his head.

"Jacke, of course I don't hate you. I can't believe you just said that to me. Do you really think that low of me that I'll hate you after I've gotten to know you this long? So you could control fire, you just said that you've been able to do that since first year so obviously, it didn't change the type of person you are so I no."

"Sorry." Jacke couldn't say anything more after that because Jennifer was hugging him. He felt himself go red and he saw that Max was looking away but had a grin on his face. He was so glad that Max didn't see that Jacke had a foolish grin on his face. After she let him go, he turned to Max quickly. Partly because he didn't want Jennifer to see that he blushed and partly to have Max's opinion. "What about you Max?"

"Well, I'm not going to say that I don't think that Solemn or Slytherin shouldn't be watched. He always did seem a little dodgy and now I see why. But…"he said raising his hand. "He is your friend and if he's okay in your book after all this time then I won't tell anyone."

"That's good. Especially since he wants to see the both of you in about two hours."

"What?"

"Why?"

"Well, I told him that I wanted to tell you guys the truth and he said that I could do that only if I agreed that I bring you to meet him so he could tell if he could trust you with his secret."

"Sounds like a set up," Max said narrowing his eyes.

"Honestly Max, can you blame him for this? You know what he is and if he doesn't see if he could trust you then he'll be afraid for himself and for his parents and grandparents. Tyler was an absolute wreck when he accidentally showed us that he could speak parseltongue. He wants to see that you won't go tattling to a teacher or Dumbledore and put his family in danger."

"Whoa, I didn't think about that. He must be really scared that we're the kind of people that'll do that to him and his family. I feel very bad for him," Jennifer said looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"Jenny…no…look, Tyler is just a little worried, okay. His father had to watch when his grandpa made the mistake of revealing himself and got himself captured right in front of him as a kid. His dad always told him to be careful so he won't make the same mistake and Tyler just wants to be. Brad thinks it's because he doesn't want his dad to go through all that again."

"Wow, now I'm starting to feel guilty for thinking he was trying to set us up. Merlin, am I a git." Max said taking a very popular trend in admiring his shoelaces.

"Jenny, Max, just come with me in two hours to meet him. Once he sees that you two can keep his secret then he'll be okay."

Jacke then took the time to calm them down by showing them so more fire tricks, showing off his lion form which he let Max and Jennifer pet and rub him after they got over the shock of seeing a lion, and went into detail about the adventure for the Potion of Fecundity in which they were a good audience in gasping and cheering at the right spots.

(---)

Tyler was in the rock valley with his godfather, Chaos, Regulus, Matt, Morgan, Sam and Lutz, waiting for the others.

'Merlin, I'm glad that's over," Tyler said thinking about what had happened when he told his friends. He thought back on what happened moments ago…

His friends took the news better than he ever expected. He had started by pulling them close to a deserted corner of the common room where called Chaos over to them in parseltongue before he started his story. They didn't dare doubt that he wasn't joking after he proved he was a parselmouth. He told them from revealing his full name to what happened during the holidays. Unfortunately, Lutz Napier happened to have come across their conversation and heard enough. When they caught him, Sam brought him over to them and told them that Lutz could be trusted. Lutz swore he wouldn't tell anyone and after Tyler and Chaos checked him, they decided that he could be trusted. After all, Lutz wasn't really a friend but he told Tyler that he owed him for talking to him and cheering him up when he had that crisis about his brother during Christmas.

Each of them had different reactions for when he was finished. Matt was outraged that Tyler would tell them but wouldn't tell him even though Tyler explained that they found out by accident. Morgan just stayed silent and was staring at Tyler expressionless. Sam and Lutz kept whispering sounds of wonder and amazement. Regulus had his hand on Tyler's left shoulder in a way that a big brother would do for consoling. Tyler's godfather collected them from the common room so it wouldn't look too suspicious that they all were being led off into the grounds together since it would look like they were all having a detention instead.

Now, here they were waiting. Tyler didn't say that Jacke, Reggie and Brad were bringing company and thought that they wouldn't come if they knew that more Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were going to be with them. As one, Jacke's party, Reggie and his friend Laura, and Brad and Hawkster Jones were all seen coming toward them.

"What are they doing here?" Matt said to Tyler.

"Silence Mr. Carroway," Professor Squall said without moving. Matt backed up a bit and stayed quiet.

When they made it, Max started. "Why are you all here?" he said looking toward the slytherins.

"Try to guess," Sam said glaring at Max and moving toward him.

"Sod off Baddock," Hawkster shouted gritting his teeth going over to him.

"I don't need your help Jones," Max said turning to Hawkster.

"You need all the help you can get Longhorn!" Sam shouted. M

Max almost jumped at Sam if Lutz hadn't pulled Sam out of the way by his arm.

"Enough," Tyler shouted. Professor Squall helped with Leg Locker Curse to prevent the three of them from coming to blows. "We're not here to fight okay!" The three of them backed away from each other after Squall released them and Tyler continued. "Look…all of you are here so that you all can know who exactly knows about the four of us," he said pointed over to Jacke, Reggie and Brad. "and especially me. Now, that you all know who exactly knows my secret, I think it would be easier to keep it that, a secret. I'm not asking for all of us to be matey about this. I'm just asking to keep it among yourselves and maybe at least being civil to one another wouldn't hurt."

"Civil?" Matt said glaring over in Jacke's direction.

"You have something you want to say to me then say it," Jacke said making a glow of fire visible in his hand that made everyone but his Gryffindor friends shocked. Even though they were all told about their abilities, it was different to actually see it.

"Jacke, stop that right now." Tyler said glaring at him and shaking his head. "Get rid of that fire," he said in an almost ordering way.

"No Tyler, if your friend wants to say something to me then he should say it."

"Jacke, please." Jennifer said grabbing his shoulder to encourage him to stop.

"Mr. Walker, that's about enough." Professor Squall said in a deadly tone that made Jacke's insides freeze up and he quickly put out his fire. "However, you do bring a valid point in Mr. Carroway. If you do want to speak then speak."

"Okay, you want us to be civil with each other in public?" He said turning down his glare to look at Tyler.

"Yes, but I don't mean to be all shaking hands and that kind of thing. I mean that you don't pick fights and at least talk normally to one another or avoid each other if that's too hard, that's it. You know, like a treaty."

"You've got to be…" before he could finish, Morgan came and slapped the back of his head hard.

"What, that's too hard to do for Tyler, is it?" She had a glare on that would've made anyone go on their knees and beg for mercy. She also had her wand drawn in her hand but she didn't raise it.

Matt was petrified. "No, no, I…okay, I'll, I'll do it."

"Good," Regulus said speaking for the first time. "Morgan, you could put that away now." Morgan pocketed her wand and stood beside Tyler. Regulus then started to speak in a tone to everyone. "Look, we all are in the same boat. We know about the Seekers here and about what they've been doing. If any of us try to spite against Tyler, Jacke, Reggie or Brad, then we'll be hurting them all. We are all good friends with at least one of these guys, personally, I like all four of ya. We may not like it but we all in this together now."

"Thanks Regulus," Reggie said. Regulus nodded to him and Reggie spoke again. "Now, we brought all of you here so that Tyler can see if he can trust you all. Laura, Hawkster, Max, Jennifer, Regulus, Matt, Morgan, Sam, Lutz" he said looking at each other in turn. He felt calling all of them by their first names would help. "Do you swear to keep his secret? Remember, if you tell then not only are you putting his life in danger but his whole family's too."

Tyler looked into each of them as they said yes and could find nothing that suggested them lying. Chaos was right by his feet and he hissed that he couldn't feel anything deceitful from them. Chaos had told him that he was starting to feel his way around humans and could read their feelings which explained how Chaos always seemed to know when Tyler was troubled even though he said he was fine at times. Tyler did see that Jones, Longhorn and Sam were more interested in glaring at each other than looking at Tyler but Tyler believed they would be trustworthy. Collins gave him a handshake and said that his secret wasn't any of her business to spread around. Morgan was smiling at him as she said that he could trust her and he didn't have any doubt for a second. Matt gave him a "you can count on me" look. Lutz gave him an approving nod, which Tyler returned. Regulus didn't have any expression on his face but he had a look in his eyes that showed care. Jennifer Gardner gave him a look of worry and pity that made Tyler taken back. 'I wonder what's her story?' he briefly wondered.

Jacke, Reggie and Brad were silent through all this. They knew how important this was and could hold out on talking with Tyler later. After they talked more with their own house friends of course.

"Thanks," Tyler said to them. "If any of you want to talk to me in private then just tell me. I know it must not be comfortable knowing what you know about me so let it out with me if you want anytime. That's all I have left to say."

"Okay," Professor Squall said clapping his hands for attention. "I think that's enough for one day. I believe you should return to your common rooms now. You all have classes tomorrow and homework to do last minute." He said earning smiles and mild giggles all around. "Off you all go."

They all scattered apart but Professor Squall stayed back with Tyler. "You okay?"

Tyler knew he wasn't talking about himself personally but his feelings on this. "A little scared but a little happy too."

"Happy?" Squall said surprised.

"Yeah, at least, I won't have to hide myself from anyone but my fellow seekers and family anymore. But, I can tell this is going to take time to work also."

Then Tyler and his godfather made their way to the castle and Squall offered Tyler a cup of tea in his office.

(---)

**End of Chapter 20**

Dark672: Thank you, I hope you like this one.

Tigercub15: I'm glad you loved the zombie. It just came to me like a bang. My brother gave me the idea when he started acting like one.

Nightlit: I hope this is enlightening for you. I was excited when you said you would have chapter 20 up but so far nothing, what's wrong?

Ginny1232008: Here's your update.

Author Notes:

Well, Tyler's secret just spilled further. Let's hope that these 9 new people in their knowledge circle are dependable. Don't worry, in time, these nine will become very important so this is the first step in something greater. You always have to start somewhere and it always starts with trust. I'll have the Seekers start their plans for the Potion of Fecundity, a quidditch match and who knows what else next chapter.

On another note, I found photos, official photos of scenes from the upcoming movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. There was a photo of Rita Skeeter talking with Harry, quill in hand, and others like Harry and Hermione sneaking off and Harry and Ron in their dress robes getting ready for the Yule ball. You could see them on the Digicasey website . It's a sight for all artwork and photos for everything in the Harry Potter world. Go to Colin's Photo Gallery and look into the Goblet of Fire photo gallery and see First official photos and you'll see them there. Just hit worldwideweb dotand then digicasey and then dot com. I tried to write the address plainly but the Document Manager won't let it come on.

Please give me reviews.

High Serpent King.


	21. The Perfect Site

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(---)

Chapter 21: The Perfect Site

To say that the Seekers had no differences with their friendly housemates would be a downright, boldfaced lie. Not that it was bad, on the contrary, things seemed a little better.

Brad and Hawkster were more free in their conversations with one another. Brad would share some good spell tips that he picked up from the other Seekers and Hawkster would give Brad some good Transfiguration spells that he thought were good for dueling. They started to have sparing matches out on the grounds but that soon ended since it was still cold so they moved over to unused classrooms.

Reggie and Laura were also more free in their conversations but other than that, they were pretty much the same way. However, many girls thought that Laura had become Reggie's new girlfriend or to be more blunt, accuse it, and Reggie would correct them in saying that she wasn't and asked if they were jealous because they wanted to be dating him which caused many of them to blush or bait him to ask them out. Laura would always roll her eyes in amusement then go back to reading a bookon Muggle Folklore on magical places and realms. When Reggie asked why she was reading that since there were some things in there that were far from real, she said that it was nice to go back to what she thought of magic before she found out it was real when she got her Hogwarts letter. Reggie felt intrigued and asked to read it too when she was done.

Jacke, Jennifer and Max were the group that changed the least. They did everything they would do normally. Max would occasionally ask for some help in heating the room while they were studying but otherwise things were normal between the three of them. Jacke however, felt both good and bad. He felt good that he wasn't holding this big secret from them anymore and that nothing changed. He also felt bad because nothing changed. The thing that he did want to change was that he would have more of a backbone to make a move with Jennifer but he was still as spineless as ever. He thought that if he felt that he told her that secret then it would inspire him to have the courage to at least ask her for a day in Hogsmeade but alas no.

'I wish I had Reggie's confidence in asking out girls,' he thought jealous of his Ravenclaw friend.

Tyler's slytherin pals were the biggest change out of the four groups. Lutz and Sam seemed to think of him as a sort of proud symbol since he told them who he really was. He did feel flattered but it was getting to the point where he had to tell the two of them to stop oggling him or he would feed them to Chaos. Matt seemed a little distant with him probably due to the fact that he toldfellow seekers about him before himbut he corrected him by saying that he didn't tell them, they found out and he was part of the first people he told so he made it technical that Matt should be happy and amazingly, it worked. Morgan didn't treat him any different but she did stare at him at times when she thought he wasn't looking. It wasn't of any feeling either, just regular staring like someone would do when they were in space. Regulus' relations with Tyler seemed to take a huge rise. Regulus would talk more with Tyler on stuff that Tyler would imagine older siblings talk about with younger ones. Tyler would tell Regulus about some of the things that happened in his childhood and Regulus would do the same. Tyler noticed that Regulus seemed more chipper than he'd ever been for some reason. He actually asked Regulus why he seemed happier and boy, did he understand why,

"You remember my arranged marriage agreement that my parents set up?"

"Of course." Regulus had told him on the day when they first came back to Hogwarts at the beginning of the term.

"Well, it seems that she had been sick two weeks before the holidays and she had passed on almost a week ago. I know I must sound horrible for being happy that someone died but I can't help it."

"I get it. Now you could date and...whatever without having to worry about your parents."

"I wish Tyler. You know that my parents want to keep the bloodline pure. The only way I'll be happy is if the girl that I absolutely like is also a pureblooded witch. Tojours Pur, remember?"

"Oh right."

"But, now that my arranged fiancee is gone, I can be free to keep looking myself so it's better than nothing. At least that's better than no chance but it's still going to be hard."

"Don't you fancy anyone in this school? It sounds like you're having a hell of a time looking."

" I just don't fancy any of the girls here. I may think some are pretty but fancy? Tyler, one day, you'll understand. Maybe you won't have to look as hard as you think."

"What are you talking about?"

"Tyler, really, you are hopelesswhen it comes to relationships," Regulus said shaking his head and laughing to himself. What did he know that Tyler didn't?

(---)

The Seekers were looking over more of the journal of Salazar Slytherin privately in the Slytherin Chamber about a week and a half from the day they had gathered all their friends to let them know who exactly was in on their secrets. The journal itself didn't seem like a journal but more like a log. It showed the steps that the founders took in preparing the building plans for Hogwarts and what they discussed in seperate meetings before they actually got the potion. It was mindboggling of how much time the founders put into actually drawing up the plans for how they wanted the school to be built and the surrounding grounds shaped to all four of their satisfactions. They learned that Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw had liked the idea of a surrounding mountain barrier around their school while Salazar Slytherin and Helga Hufflepuff desired plains and patches of forest to be the surrounding area.

"Well," Reggie said after finishing the entry of how the founders decided on having four towers built, "We have a lot to do. The very first step is what exactly do we make with the potion?"

"Why don't we use it to make a new fortified place where we had our training cave?" Jacke suggested.

"No, I don't think that's a good idea. Too many bad memories on that spot," Tyler said shaking his head remembering the fight with the late Professor Arnold. "Besides, I think that's a little too much in the open. Arnold found it so any of the teachers could if they watch long enough."

"Well, if it's being out in the open that scares ya, how about we take a page out of the Creation temple's book and create a portal?" Brad said shrugging his shoulders looking at Tyler.

Tyler just looked dumbfounded at Brad at his idea. "I...that's bloody BRILLIANT BRAD!!!"

"Whoa, take it easy mate. He's right there, not a mile away," Jacke said putting his hand on Tyler's shoulder like he wasexpected him to start standing up and leaping in joy.

"Sorry, but it is. We could create a portal and hide it in the school."

"Pretty sneaky Tyler. There's only one problem. Where are we going to hide the portal? We'll need to find an excluded spot in the school so no one would find it and accidentally walk through it," Reggie pointed out.

"No, but if we make it so that only we could get through then that won't be a problem. Remember how the temple's portal was? It needed to be tapped three times. What if we made a portal that would only listen to the four of us? And I think I know," he said snapping his fingers remembering something from first year.

"The four of us, how?" Reggie asked sounding very intrigued.

"Well, we could it enchanted to recognize our outlines. I got the idea from a prank the Marauders played on Severus. They had the portraits enchanted to insult him when he passed by by giving them his outline. So we could enchant the portal for our outlines."

"Tyler, that's crazy. How are we going to pull that off?" Jacke asked like his friend just went mental.

Tyler gave Jacke the same kind of look. "Jacke, we have the potion. It can create anything that we set our minds too remember?"

Jacke mentally slapped himself for being so absentminded. He felt embarrassed that he asked a question with such an obvious question. It was like asking how they could light a torch among a group of fire elementals.

"What should we hide it like?" Brad asked making them all tap into their imaginations until Jacke actually came up with an idea that completely countered his stupid question earlier.

"Let's make it a portrait. Just another portrait in Hogwarts and no one will give it a second thought."

"Jacke, you may have something there," Brad said sounding interested.

"Guys, sure we may fool the students but I'm sure the teachers will notice a portrait that wasn't there before," Reggie said, again being the voice of reason, and as usual was right.

"Well, we could just have it in a hidden spot where not even the teachers will not even give it a second thought." Tyler said trying to solve that problem.

"It'll have to be a real good spot then," Reggie said countering back.

"We'll just take the time to look for one. We'll come back to this a week. I've got quidditch practice," Tyler said looking at his watch and seeing the time.

"Yeah, you'll need all the time you could get to beat me," Brad said fisting his chest like a tough guy.

"Don't talk so big Brad. Remember, you're not undefeated in catching the snitch anymore," Jacke said on the verge of laughing.

"AND," Reggie said cutting in. "We all know who did that." He said using his hands and pointing to himself rather smugly.

"Shame it will be you against Brad then me. If only that Ravenclaw Nick Perry didn't get sick then it would be Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw and Gryffindor would be facing Hufflepuff next. But at least I'll get to outseek Reggie sooner again." Jacke said shrugging and looking at the bright side.

"You could dream," Reggie said still in the same smugish tone.

(---)

The quidditch match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin went by with a devastating amount of bad weather. The snow had started to dissapear on the ground but it was still cold enough for some parts of the lake to have plates of ice. There was a chill in the air but luckily there was no strong wind to make it worse. Tyler's fellow teammates were bashing any Hufflepuff that got close to them. Even Sam was being a little rough but only towards Hawkster Jones and it seemed that Hawkster was more than willing to return it to him. Obviously there was still some heat between them and Max Longhorn from their gathering.

Tyler and Brad tried not to let the actions of their friends deter them from outseeking one another. Brad wanted to get his good name back and catch the snitch while Tyler wanted to beat Brad and change his record with him from their last game together. The game ended when Brad had caught the snitch next to the Hufflepuff goal posts in a close shave race with Tyler. However, the game still ended with Slytherin leading 200 to 170. Tyler knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it from Tanner when he got to the changing rooms but as long as Slytherin still won, it wouldn't be as bad if they had lost and that was able to sustain him to actually go to the changing rooms after Sam was forced to push him to it.

It became clear that since Slytherin had won the first two games, they had a real easy shotin taking the quidditch cup from Gryffindor. However, should Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw then it would be hard again.

Along with the excitement of the quidditch match, Defense Against the Dark Arts had gone up in excitement. Professor Squall started to teach them about Grindolows and actually brought a few to show them how to overcome them. Morgan had actually spun the Grindolow by the hands and when she let it go, it actually backed into the corner farthest away whimpering. After Morgan's turn, the ones who still didn't have a turn had to be denied since the other Grindolows would back away too from fear when Squall took them away from their tanks.

"Morgan, didn't anyone tell you that you are too scary for your own good sometimes," Tyler said as they left the classroom.

"Well, I try," Morgan said putting her face up in dignity.

"Those grindolows look like they wished you hadn't," Matt said between chuckles.

"Well yeah, that's true Matt," Tyler said joining him in the chuckling.

Morgan started breathing a little hard at them and that caused Tyler to go into a mock of a whimpering puppy. "Very funny you too."

"You know," Tyler said actually starting to be a little scared. "You're very cute when you're angry."

He didn't expect that to calm her down too much but surprisingly she looked flattered. "Thanks," she said in a small voice before she ran off toher nextclass leaving them behind.

"Wow, you really know how calm beasts down. Must be your snake's intuition." Matt said narrowing his eyebrows for the inside joke.

"What's with her? One minute, she's raving mad and now she's running away. Are girls always this wierd?"

"Sorry mate, I'm the wrong guy to ask. Anyway, I've got homework to do and I think you've got to get to Arithmancy and join Walker. See ya."

"Yeah, bye." He said walking toward Arithmancy while Matt went for the common room.

He headed off in the direction of Professor Vector's classroom when he fellfrom tripping on something. When he looked up, he saw Chaos.

"_Chaos, what the bloody hell are you doing here_?" he said very annoyed after looking to see that the coast was clear.

"_Sorry Tyler, but this couldn't wait_. _Follow me._"

"_Now? But I have Arithmancy, this can't wait? Surely, this could be done after class_," then Tyler realized that this would mean no class and he would be on a quest with Chaos instead. "_Lead the way_," he said following that thought.

Tyler followed his spiny friend and was leading him up on the fourth floor, to a partthat had barely anything of adventurous importance. Then they were on the east side staircases where he slithered to a corner right in between the fourth and fifth floors. Tyler saw nothing except a regular metal torch next to the corner of the wall. He looked around and saw that this part of the staircase didn't look anything out of the ordinary. There were regular portraits on the wall of animals behaving normally in their surrounding environments. This part of the school looked no different than anything else he'd seen.

"_Well_?" Tyler was starting to get annoyed at his familiar. He led him to a regular wall ona staircase!

"_Tyler, look right where I am_," Chaos hissed and pointed his head to the spot in front of him.

Right there, there was a hole about the size of a rathole. Chaos slithered into it and after Tyler checked to make sure there was nothing to see him, he transformed into a snake and went in also. Inside there was a pitch black corridor. With his snake eyes, he could see a little bit of the corridor but he hadn't been a snake long enough to use one's full senses. He transformed back to his human shape and lit his wand.

His light revealed a corridor full of cobwebs and dust all over it. The corridor itself looked like it didn't have a human visitor for about a few centuries. The torches were all rusted and looked like they hadn't been used forever. There were about 7 scattered portraits of different things. The corridor went about 20 feet deep and was about as wide as the corridors throughout the castle. It ended with a dead end wall. Tyler used the Cleaning Charm that Jacke showed him to wipe away the cobwebs and dust in his walking path. The portraits had things like a grassy plain, a underwater one with fish swimming around, one with swirling colors, one with snow falling on a tree, a forest, one with a portrait of a golden chalice and one that happened to be blank like the picture was taken out of the frame. The corridor itself seemed just like a secluded corner that had no significance.

"_Chaos, how did you find this place_?" he asked to his familiar.

"_I was just slithering around__and felt a soft breeze coming from the hole that even a most sensitive snake would barely feel unless they were absolutely close to the wall and went to investigate. I discovered this place and remembered that you said that the Seekers needed to find a secluded place to put a portal and I just had to tell you as soon as I could_."

"_Chaos, you are a treasure among snakes. Remind you to give you the most creamy milk that I could find. You've done well. The only thing is,"_ he hissed as he looked toward the wall where the hole is,_ "how do we make it that we could actually get anything in here. Sure we could transform and make ourselves just small enough to get in but what about the chalice_?"

"_Again, I already thought of that. I knew you would want it to be able to be acessible to humans so I checked up the wall since it is natural that if there is this corridor then there has to be a way for people to get into it. I went into the wall and saw that there is a lever from the devices I found inside the wall. It seems to be concentrated on that torch on the opposite side_."

"_The torch_?" He transformed and went back to the opposite side. He pulled on the torch but nothing happened. He had a hunch and tapped it different consecutive times and pulled until he discovered that four taps and a pull would make the panel of the wall slide. It was hard for the wall to slide all the way since it was obviously unused for quite a time obviously from the state of the corridor. But Tyler fired a Cleaning Charm to where the wall was dissappearing to make the dust and rust disappear.

"Perfect, this is the perfect site to use the potion to make a portal," Tyler said to himself. "_Chaos, you are too bloody brilliant to be my familiar._"

"_Thank you_." Chaos said bowing his head. "_I try_."

Tyler then broke into a run smiling at his snake's modesty (sarcasm) and went for the common room since it was too late for Arithmancy and went to drop his stuff off and head for dinner.

(---)

**End of Chapter 21**

Dark672: I don't want to spoil the surprise so I won't say anything beyond this.

Tigercub15: I can tell you're an animal person. But still, it looked like you did like the zombie touch.

Author Notes:

There's heat going on between the friends to the seekers. Hawkster, Sam, and Max want to tear each other apart and the others are starting to feel a little awkward. Let's pray the Seekers will make it work on top of them making their secret spot, their haven. You'll get where this is going as time goes. All great things start somewhere.

Sorry for the long wait. I got limited access to a computer now. Until I get a new computer server then it will probably be this long for a while.

High Serpent King


	22. Big Plans and Small Kisses

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(-)

Chapter 22: Big Plans and Small Kisses  


Jacke was sitting in the Arithmancy classroom waiting for Tyler to show up and was surprised that he wasn't there when Professor Vector came and started the lesson. Jacke could barely concentrate on paying attention through most of the class.

'Did something happen to Tyler? I wonder what's up. Honestly, can't I concentrate for one second without having to feel like I'm missing out on something?'

He resisted the urge to shout "Thank Merlin" when the bell rang. He headed over for Charms with his head still in wonder but with relief as he could concentrate better in his favorite class.

'I'll talk to Tyler later, I just hope he appreciates the notes that I have for him since they aren't really good.'

(-)

"He skived off Arithmancy?" Reggie said to Jacke as they were practicing their Cheering Charms.

"Yep," Jacke said happily as Reggie just fired a Cheering Charm his way. "He didn't even give me a warning or anything. That's what got me a little worried."

"Why? What could possibly happen to him?"

"Well, he is still feeling a little on edge from what that git Lestrange said about him regretting something. I just hope he wasn't cornered by him."

"Nah, I'm sure he's in Transfiguration right now with Brad telling him some new thing he wants to show us. Think about it, everytime this sort of thing happens, Tyler comes back with a powerful secret."

"For his sake, I hope it's your theory then mine," Jacke said frowning now that the Cheering Charm's effect had evidently worn off.

(-)

Brad was noticing that Tyler was picking up on Transfiguring his pigeon into a traveling bag faster then Brad usually mastered new transfiguration. Tyler had a big smile on his face and his eyes had a hint of excitement to them.

"What's with you Tyler?" Brad whispered as Professor McGonagall was on the other side of the room commenting on how Zack Moore's bag still had feathered wings.

"Oh, I found out something that can help us just a half hour ago."

"Half hour ago? Shouldn't you have been in Arithmancy with Jacke then?"

"Look, I'll explain it to you guys after dinner. Trust me, you'll like it."

(-)

"Wow, this is amazing." Reggie commented as he looked around the dusty corridor.

It was after dinner and Tyler had brought the Seekers and also brought Regulus and the others. He thought that if they were included in some of the excitement then he might better guarantee their trust. All of them had their wands lit making the whole corridor completely seeable.

"Yeah, a big dusty, dank corridor. You're too easy to impress Reggie," Jacke said fighting the urge to snort in laughter.

"Ha Ha Jacke. I just talking about how this is a good site for us to make our secret portal. It's very well hidden and from how it looks, no one has been here for centuries."

"How did you find it Tyler?" Brad asked looking at one of the paintings.

"I can't take credit for anything. It was all Chaos here." He said pointing to his snake next to his feet. He hissed a little while bringing himself up.

"What did he just say?" Hawkster Jones said looking at the snake nervously.

"Oh, he just said "Don't you just like my work" and "Please give me some applause."

Everyone laughed while Tyler shook his head at his familiar's humble attitude. (extreme sarcasm) After that, everyone started to wander while the Seekers stayed close to keep talking.

"Chaos is starting to get a big head and I wonder how that is," Jacke said directing his eyes very unsubtlely to Tyler.

"No idea," Tyler said shrugging his shoulders in a joking tone. "Anyway, what do you guys think. Is it good enough?"

"I say it's too good," Brad said switching over to look at another portrait.

"Yeah, and I've already got the perfect place for our portrait portal to go," Jacke said calling them over. He was right in front of the portrait canvas that was vacant. "This one is empty and the whole thing is already set up so all we have to do is just make the portal here."

"Great, but what should we make the portrait of?" Reggie said stroking his chin.

"We'll decide that later. That way we have more time to know exactly what we're going to put there. It may be a cover but it shouldn't be stupid."

"Hear Hear," Jacke said raising his hand like he had a goblet in it.

"This deserves a celebration." Brad said coming up to them and now made it that the four of them were in a circle.

They put their hands in, gave their traditional "Seekers" chant as they raised their hands and brought them down with grabbing clenches like each just caught a snitch. Then they laughed between them and Tyler checked his watch. While he did however, Brad and Jacke noticed that the others were watching them in a stupor but Reggie and Tyler couldn't notice since their backs were to them.

"Right now, we better get back before some of our housemates start seeing we're gone and start asking questions," Tyler said indicating himself, Matt, Morgan, Sam, Lutz and Regulus.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, this a great leap from where we were before. See you later mate," Jacke said shaking Tyler's hand and leaving with Max and Jennifer.

"Until tomorrow," Reggie said leaving for the Ravenclaw common room with Laura.

"Don't forget to close up," Brad said heading out with Hawkster.

Tyler closed the wall panel behind him and joined up with his slytherin friends as they headed for the dungeons together.

"It's amazing that the four of you could make this whole set up at all. This has been the most exciting time out of my whole time at Hogwarts so far," Regulus commented as they started to decend the stairs to the dungeons.

"Wow, that boring huh?" Matt said and it earned him a good smack at the back of the head from him.

"Ha Ha Matt. I'm not that boring you know."

"Not THAT boring." This time he effectively dodged the slap that Regulus sent his way and smirked very smugly. Lutz and Sam were laughing as they kept going at it.

"Hey Tyler, after everything that the four of you were talking about, I'm starting to be very anxious to see this Fecundity Potion of yours," Morgan said twindling her fingers.

"Don't worry, you'll get to see it soon. But, we can't risk anything happening to it even though I'm the only one who can even get to it."

"What, why?" Matt said leaving behind his attention of teasing Regulus playfully.

"It's in the Slytherin Chamber and only I can open it because it's password protected in parseltongue."

"That's right...It's still hard to think of you as the actual heir to our house's founder ya know," Regulus said at him straight in the eye.

"We've known you for this long and it's still hard to see you as our friend Tyler," Morgan said also catching his eyes.

"I personally think that your language is kind of wicked. The way you talk with your snake Chaos is very spinechilling," Lutz said with an encouraging nod.

"Not to mention that you say it like it's a regular second language every time you go from English to parseltongue like what you did in that corridor." Sam added with an impressed tone.

"I am amazing aren't I?" Tyler said a little haughty.

"Jacke was right...can see where Chaos got his humbleness from," Regulus said with a sly smile making the others laugh.

"Okay! Enough!" he yelled which just caused them to laugh harder.

(-)

"Hawkster, you know I came very close to strangling you back there."

Brad was walking with Hawkster on their way to the Hufflepuff Corridor. Brad was very annoyed with Hawkster's actions back in the corridor.

"What I'd do?"

"The way you asked about Tyler's snake made it look like he was a criminal."

"Well, excuse me but you're used to him speaking parseltongue, I'm not. Hearing him hiss like that; he could've been saying anything."

"Hawkster, when I brought you to meet Tyler, he said that he could trust you. Can't you return the favor?"

"Look, it's just that...all my life I kept hearing about evil parselmouths and with You Know Who out there, I can't help but be a little suspicious. I mean, he is his cousin for Merlin's sake."

Brad waited a while so he didn't snap at Hawkster. "Look...I know how you feel. Jacke and Reggie went through the same thing when we found out. Do you know how they got over it?"

"No, enlighten me," he said in a bored tone.

"They looked at the fact that Tyler revealed his deepest secret and risked his safety to save Jacke's life." Hawkster stopped right there and looked at Brad who put up a hard face. "Jacke was going to be bitten by a very poisonous snake and Tyler used his gift to get the snake to go away. Risked his secret to help his friends."

Hawkster didn't say anything after that but just kept on walking. But Brad felt that he wasn't done. He had a little more to tell his friend. "Hawkster, while we're on this little subject, what is wrong between you, Max Longhorn and Samuel Baddock?"

"Please, those gits need a good kick up the arse!" Hawkster said no longer being quiet.

"What is with you three? You've been at each other's throats since the three of you first met."

"Look, it may be easy for you to get along with your out of house friends but that doesn't mean that it's easy for me. Did it ever occur to you that maybe I wouldn't like everyone you like?"

"Fine Hawkster, just forget it. I'm not in the mood for a fight. Let's talk about something else okay," Brad said drawing a breath to calm his nerves.

"Fine by me. Actually, there is something that I wanted to ask you. It's about the trip that you're taking to America in August."

"Oh," Brad had completely forgotten about the summer adventure that he, his fellow seekers, parents, grandpa, and his muggle best friend were going to be taking in a number of months. "What?"

"Is there a chance I could see some pictures? I've never seen America so I want good shots. Shame I can't go..." Hawkster was invited but his mother put the foot down and said no since she didn't like the idea of him being across the world with all this chaos around.

"Sure..." Brad said relieved that they were being civil again.

(-)

"Well, that place was surprising," Jacke said in a red armchair in a far off corner in the Gryffindor common room. "I can't believe we actually found the perfect place."

"Your portal plan is sure to go off in a two shakes of a broom," Jennifer said while writing a letter home.

"Thanks for support Jenny."

"Still...I can't believe what we saw back there." Max said all of a sudden.

"What do you mean Max," Jacke asked intrigued.

"I mean how the four of you were. The four of you throwing your hands in the air like your friends."

"Max, you don't seem to be fast on the uptake. I told you that we've been friends ever since we met on the first day in our first year."

"Yeah...It's just...different to actually see it with you guys."

"Is that a problem," Jacke said narrowing his eyes.

"No...it's just weird."

"Weird...how?" Jacke said started to grit his teeth.

"After everything the Slytherins put us through every day, it's weird that one of them could be so...nice like."

"One of them? Max, Tyler isn't the only Slytherin who I happen to call a friend. Regulus happens to be a guy I really respect."

"Black is okay I guess. The others I'm not so sure about, especially Baddock. Outside those two slytherins, I don't think I can go one second without punching one if I were alone with them."

"Max?" Jacke said suddenly getting an idea between his rising impatience and anger. "Do you like Professor Squall?"

"Yeah, he's the greatest. But what does he have to do with this?"

"Did you know that he was in Slytherin here too?"

Max had an expression of pure shock while Jennifer made a double take.

"He was?" she asked. "How do you know?"

"He told Tyler and Tyler told us. Maybe that should get you to think about things Max. I don't know why you, Sam Baddock and Hawkster Jones are at each others throats but keep that between the three of you and don't use it to judge Tyler or Regulus."

"All right," Max said surrendering. "Look, it's just been a long day and I'm really tired." He went on his way up to the dormitory stairs before he said one last thing. "Good night you two."

Jacke noticed that his tone seemed very strange and when he looked around, he noticed that he and Jennifer were the only two Gryffindors left in the common room.

"You know," Jennifer suddenly said snapping him out this thought. "He does have a point. It is strange to actually see the four of you behaving like best friends. Seeing the four of you in that group chant...it was weird."

"Doesn't feel weird for me. By the way, how long do you plan on making that anyway," Jacke said pointing to her letter. Jacke was trying very hard to keep talking and not think or come close to talking about the fact that they were alone.

"Well, my parents don't hear from me much so I make sure that every time I do write them that it's nice and long. Also, they write long ones back to me. It's nice sometimes to get long letters. They're sometimes like you're having a coversation when they're like that. I also worry about my mom in all this since she's in the Magical Reversal Department and they're being put on a 24/7 watch for Death Eater activity so I don't hear from her alot. Dad is still there but he worries about mom too and wishes that he was a wizard too so that he could protect us better." She was shedding a few tears and Jacke went to hug her.

"Oh...you know Jenny...Tyler wishes that Voldemort wasn't his cousin sometimes." She flinched at the name but didn't make any other movement. "We sometimes have to get him out of his depressing hexes by reminding him that it's not his fault that this is happening and he's dead set to wishing this was all over. Maybe if we all do wish just as hard, this will be over faster and you could have more time with both your mom and dad."

"I hope so...Thanks," she said as they let go.

Jacke looked at Jennifer and right then and there he couldn't explain how he became brave enough to do it but he leant in and gave her a kiss on the cheek close to her lips. When he pulled back he suddenly found himself lose feeling in feeling in his stomach and betted that he was starting to blush. She also looked down but saw that she was getting redder in the cheeks and had a grin.

"Er...I better go. It's late," Jacke said starting to get up.

"You don't have to." She said holding his arm.

"No, I do feel a little tired so I better get to bed."

Jacke got to his bed and collapse there without changing into his pajamas. He had his mind completely on what happened between him and Jennifer. He didn't know what he was thinking. How could he just kiss her like that. Just thinking about it was making blush creep up on his cheeks.

'I can't believe that I still kissed her. Okay, it wasn't on the lips or anything but still. How am I going to be around her now without wanting to actually kiss her. Did she hate it? No, she did blush. Does that mean that she liked it? Oh, how am I going to get through this. Should I talk with one of the Seekers. No, I think I want to keep this to my grave. But, I do have the urge to blurt it to them. Ohh...why is love so complicated?'

He had these types of thoughts until he was to sleepy to think anymore.

(-)

It had beentwo months since that day in the corridor. A lot had transpired since then. The weather was in a spring time blossom as the grounds of the school were blessed with bright green grass and healthy flower beds. On the subject of the Seeker's special place, progress had taken a huge, death defying leap.

First of which is that they decided the outside portrait should have four quidditch players on the four corner head toward a snitch in the middle. These players would be in blue, red, green and yellow quidditch robes and represent them. The also decided to have the portal recognize their outlines in the features of their hair, since all four of them had a different color; their house since all four were different; being a quidditch player and their eyes since all four had different colors of that too.Together, Brad and Tyler came up with this and something else so that it would be next to impossible for anyone to break in. If, for example, a Slytherin tried to get in, they could only do it if they were on the quidditch team, had black hair, and black eyes. In addition, they came up with a password to say while the portrait scanned to see if they fit the profile. Each of them would have a separate type password and it would go like this:

**The (say house here) seeker is seeking today.**

After saying that, if the person matched the profile then the portrait would open revealing the way to their secret place. Also, the topic of bringing their friends came up. If they wanted to bring company, then they would say **Plus** however number they were bringing along after saying the password. That way if anyone tailed them, the portal would reject them and bounce them back after they went in.

This whole thing of planning was the easy part and it took 17 days to come up with all this. The subject came up with what exactly should they make. Reggie was the one to inspire this part. He suggested that the portal lead to their own secret island. He got the idea from reading his friend Laura folklore book and read a piece about a magical island where magical beings and creatures such as fairieslived in paradise and only a few selected humans were permitted to go. It was the myth of Avalon and Reggie decided that they make that bit of muggle folklore reality and call their place _Avalon_. So, they decided on the island idea and looked at a map of the world to find a good spot to create it. They decided on a spot in the Atlantic about 500 miles awayNorthwest from Britian in a secluded part of the sea where hardly any ships or people go.Jacke cameup with the idea to have a heavy fog barrier about 5 miles from the actual island to cloak it away from muggle ships and to make it magical so that the muggles would suddenly decide to go in a completely other direction. This would also confuse wizards that happened to be in the area so that they wouldn't be able to navigate their way through such thick fog and turn away. They brought this idea to Professor Squall for help and he loved their brilliance but suggested a shielding ward to surround them at the start of the barrier so that stubborn ones couldn't get past anyway unless the Seekers willed them in. They were concerned that they wouldn't be able to create a complicated ward like that with the fog barrier but that was until they remembered they had the power of the Fecundity Potion.

The island itself was about the shape of a nature made rectangle about 1 mile wide and 2 miles long. Reggie thought that would be too big but Tyler thought it would be good in case they wanted to add more things for a later time and that they wouldn't have to worry about lack of space for their training duels. They put all they planned onto parchment and would soon make a map of how the actual landscape of their island would be like. Looking back, they were surprised at what they've come up with with everything else going around. The workload from the teachers were growing to prepare them for the impending final exams. All the teachers, even Professor Squall were giving them hard lessons and good amounts of homework. Squall was really going down the list of defending against different dark creatures for their third year segment of DADA. All of this was just on their secret place of Avalon. Their personal business also took a leap for certain others.

Jacke's relationship with Jennifer hadn't changed really much at all which Jacke was thankful for since he was convinced he ruined their friendship. Occasionally, they would still be nervous aroundeach otherand uncomfortable if they were alone in different places but other than that they were the same. Jacke found that he could control himself and that he wouldn't be driven to actually repeat what he did in the common room back in the winter but that still didn't change how he felt about her. He hadn't told anyone, not even Max about what had happened so that they wouldn't keep reminding him to keep calm or actually encourage him on.

The situation between Hawkster, Sam and Max were reaching boiling points. Each time that one met another or all three were together, you could've cut the tension with two Severing Charms. The Seekers that were respective friends with them all concluded that their quarreling was so bigger than others since they were all chasers on their house teams as it seemed to be the only real answer. Reggie told them that it was probably just one of those things that no one could explain. And on the subject of quidditch,practice and games were also big on the workload. Tyler didn't stop getting glares from any of his teammates except Morgan andSam when they practiced with the shadow of a game approaching and with the memory of how their last match against Hufflepuff turned out there was no question why. Captain Tanner was being tough so that they could have a solid win over Ravenclaw. Gryffindor had defeated Ravenclaw so it was a race for the cup. Tyler could still remember when Jacke had beaten Reggie to the snitch like he said he would.

However, there was a shred of good school news that a trip to Hogsmeade was in the weekend and the Seekers really appreciated it. With a surprise for them, Reggie didn't have a date planned for this day.

"No date Reggie?" Jacke said as the four of them were playing Exploding Snap on the grounds, the day before the Hogsmeade trip.

"No," he said in a stretch."Don't have the energy for one. I'm just going to hang around with Laura and a few of the other 3rd year Ravenclaws in the village. I want this to be a time to relax from all the work." This was greeted by shock silence by Tyler and Jacke and even Brad was joining inon the joke. "Hey, even brilliant genuises like me need time to have fun in the sun."

"Ah, well...I'm going to be with spending it hanging out with Morgan in the village. Regulus and Matt are going to be with us in the beginning but they told us that they've got plans to be back at the castle early so they could try to con some of the first and second years with Butterbeer since they can't get any." Tyler said playing another card.

"I'm going to be with Jennifer. It's a shame that Max can't come to the village until his third year but we promised to bring him back a souvenir." Jacke said laying a card and winning the game.

"Me and Hawkster are just going to be hanging out. We're going to give some Zonko's products a try and I want to see if Durvish and Bangs has some wizard gadgets that my family will like."

"So we all have plans tomorrow?" Tyler said as they were cleaning up to begin another game. With a nod from each, they played another.

(-)

Morgan and Tyler found themselves on a secluded hill behind the Shrieking Shack in complete privacy. Regulus and Matt had long left them alone so they could put their plan to overcharge for Butterbeer into action. The two of them laughed at their plan when they talked on it.

"I just hope they at least give Sam, Lutz and his friend Bruce Baker a free bottle away from the scam." Morgan said chuckling at their plan for some fast money.

"I'm sure they will or at least I'm sure Regulus will. You know Matt, he loves pulling the rug from under people."

"Yeah I know," she said giggling.

They sat there in heavy silence just taking in the natural sounds of the wind. Tyler was laying flat on the ground with his eyes shut, taking in the peace of mind he was having until he heard heavy breathing. Morgan was breathing like she was nervous on something. Tyler heard her mutter softly: "Oh what the hell,"

He got on his elbows and looked at her. "Morgan, what..."

But he never finished because Morgan's lips crashed into his. He opened his eyes wide and stiffened. He saw that her eyes were shut and felt her soft lips brushing his. Then something made him respond with his lips right back and he kissed her right back. He settled back on the ground and she lowered herself to the ground too, never stopping. After a while, Tyler pulled away; partly for air and because of nervousness. He sat up and panted.

"Morgan...what...what...what."

He didn't get to finish again because Morgan sat too and kissed him again. This time, Tyler found himself actually kissing back immediately and found that his arms somehow got to her shoulders. After about a minute, Morgan broke it off. Maybe we should head back."

"Yeah," Tyler said with a hint of a smile on his face.

On their way back to the castle, Tyler and Morgan didn't say anything to each other and were avoiding eye contact. Tyler's mind was back on the kiss that they shared on the hill. That was his first kiss ever and he found that he was smiling on the inside like an idiot.

(-)

**End of Chapter 22**

Dark672: Thanks.

Tigercub15: I'm glad that you do and I hope you love this new chapter too.

SwollenFridge: Great to hear from you again. I would've liked to hear what you liked exactly but it's still good that you did like those chapters.

Author Notes:

Wow...love certainly is surrounding both Jacke and Tyler. I know that I focus on primarily these two but their my favorite pair of friends. Don't worry, in the future, Reggie and Brad will get a more closer focus, it's just that the beginning of the adventure is working with the view it's on now.

Also, the making of their new place of Avalon. A childhood fantasy isn't it? Your own private island paradise only accessible to you or your friends. This is the start of the big adventure I have planned in my head for our favorite four. Please review and tell me what you think.

High Serpent King


	23. Lestrange Strikes

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

(-)

Chapter 23: Lestrange Strikes

It seemed like the walk to the Slytherin common room from the village went by with a blur. Tyler couldn't remember walking the distance because his mind was on two things during that time: Morgan and the kiss that they shared. Of course, it was Morgan who kissed Tyler and not the other way around.

'Why did she kiss me back there? Did she like it? Did she hate it? I know I liked it. It was such a surprise, why did she do it?'

He kept having these types of thoughts until he was sitting down in a chair in a far off corner from anybody. They came back to a semi-empty common room. It wasn't surprising since they got back from the village about 45 minutes early from the time that the students were set to return. The first and second years that were there were seen with butterbeer bottles that evidently came from Regulus and Matt's little scheme to get a little extra spending money.

"Tyler...can I say something first?" Morgan said snapping Tyler out of his stupor. Her voice was small and shy which was so unlike her confident and strong one. It was mind boggling that it was obvious that she was just as uncomfortable as she was.

"Er...sure."

"Look, I want you to understand that the kiss was...oh merlin, who am I fooling? I loved it."

Tyler almost lost his eyes at that. It was almost like she could tell what he had been thinking. But there was still one question that was plaguing his mind making it almost an obsession. "Why did you kiss me anyway?"

She let out an impatient breath and gave him a look of impatient disbelief like someone would do to a hopeless person. "C'mon Tyler, even you can't be that clueless. I kissed you because I like you." Her voice was back to normal.

"Llll...like me?" Tyler stuttered. "But...why? When?" Tyler was barely able to say the words because he felt his throat dry up and face go hot.

Morgan let out a soft giggle which surprisingly made Tyler more edgy. Now that they've kissed, Morgan's girl antics had effects on him that they didn't before. "Er...I've liked since our second year. I still remember when I started to really like you. You were being jinxed by Matt in front of the class because of Arnold and everytime you got hit with a spell, you just got right back up every time and didn't let him have the satisfaction that you were hurting. I guess I have a thing for cute tough guys."

"Me? Sure I'm tough alright but...Cute?" Tyler said with a smirk like it was a joke.

"Tyler, you really need to look in a mirror more often. If you did then you would realize that many girls would double back to look at you."

"Yeah right." But Tyler didn't want to talk about that. He wanted to know more about why and how she got the idea to kiss him though he didn't sound like he was complaining because he was far from wanting to do that. "I'm the oddball housetraitor whose friends with a gryffindor, ravenclawand with a hufflepuff muggleborn."

"Well...yeah, but they still think that you're cute in the girls dorms, they sometimes say it's a shame that your looks were wasted on someone like you."

"Thanks, that really makes me feel more better. So...let me try to guess, after the dueling tournament, you wanted to take that leap of faith and get the chance to know me better to see if I was the guy you thought I was?"

"You know, I don't give you enough credit sometimes. Maybe you're not as clueless as Regulus said you were."

"And just WHAT did he say?" Tyler said trying to sound his best to be irritated.

"He said that you would never put anything together about girl stuff unless someone literally smacked you with it."

Tyler then went into remembering everything that Regulus and even his godfather had been saying to him all year. How he didn't get anything that was happening around him, how he didn't get what girls were thinking or that he was blind to what was in front of them. They knew! Tyler almost felt the need to slap himself because they were right. He never did notice it from Morgan before even though now that he looked back he should've realized it.

"Well...I didn't really get any of this until you gave me that smack on the lips so yeah, they were right. Maybe I should have one every time before a test so everything could come back to me."

"Tyler!" Morgan said slapping his arm with a glare.

"Kidding." Tyler was still finding it hard to make himself catch Morgan's eyes but was spared from trying...at a price.

"Well, well, well, not interupting anything are we?" came a teasing voice Tyler knew all to well and saw that it was both Matt and Regulus and they had sneaky grins on their faces at the sight of them. Morgan turned to glare at them but it looked like she was trying hard not to smile. Tyler felt himself turning red and feeling hot under his collar.

"Wow, maybe Tyler's right Morgan. He could use a good kiss from you to get him through potions. He really needs it." Matt said sitting beside Tyler.

"Or maybe it would be good to save a kiss for him after a quidditch match so he has an even better reason to chase the snitch," Regulus added in.

"Oh shut up." Tyler said trying to get them to stop but failed since it only made them laugh.

"But it finally got through to you huh?" Matt said cocking his eyebrows.

"You knew too?" Tyler said with a disbelieving voice since he thought that Matt was on the same level of understanding girls as he was.

"No," Regulus said cutting in. "He's even more hopeless than you. I told him when I found you two lovebirds come in the common room all nervous and uncomfortable."

"Okay enough," Morgan said in a forceful voice that made them all snap their mouths shut.

'Sometimes, Morgan can be scarier than a 30 foot dragon.' thought Tyler amusingly while he was a little scared.

(-)

The following days, Tyler was a little on edge. He tried very hard not to be a fool around Morgan even though she was acting or doing a better job than Tyler, of acting like she always had. What was mysterious was the fact that Tyler didn't tell Jacke, Reggie and Brad about her snogging him and yet they found out anyway. Jacke had given him a pat on the back which made Tyler smile completely like an idiot. Reggie gave him a "I know how it feels speech," and how he wasn't alone in actually getting to snog which made Jacke and Brad along with Tyler chase him to try to make him look like something not even the Giant Squid would even consider snogging. Even his godfather, Professor Squall, was talking to him about what happened. He relayed his previous experience with girls which made Tyler more confused at how they worked.

'Why are girls so hard to figure out?' he thought impatiently as he wrote to his dad for girl advice. It was official, he was very desperate for answers that he was asking his dad for girl help. Not that it was any good, his father had written back saying that he should brace himself for the troubles were only beginning which was the last thing that Tyler needed to hear.

The only thing that kept his mind off of Morgan was quidditch. Tanner had trained them for their last match against Ravenclaw. The weather for the match had a few clumps of clouds in the sky but other than that was clear as day. The match was a savage battle with Tyler's team members being the savage ones. Reggie was careful to avoid any bludger attacks from both Morgan and from Tanner. The plan was to keep directing the bludgers toward Reggie so he wouldn't have time to focus on finding the snitch giving Tyler the upperhand. He didn't like for Reggie to have to go through that so he tried to get Tanner to focus on the other players as well and not make it sound like begging. Of course, Tanner refused but he had to abandon the idea anyway because with the beaters only concentrating on Reggie, it left the other team's chasersto dominate and score without problems. Reggie placed himself by Tyler which he had to admit was smart because it meant that Tanner and Morgan couldn't try attacking him again because they would have to risk injuring him though he thought that Tanner might do it anyway if the fact that he was their only seeker stopped him. The match dragged on for about an hour and a half at least; by the time that Reggie caught sight of the snitch on the complete opposite of the field from where they were, Ravenclaw was leading by 110 points. Tyler sped toward that snitch as fast as he could when he felt Reggie shoot toward it.

"Sorry Tyler but this one's mine!"

"Yeah right. It's mine!" Tyler yelled back.

Reggieknew that ifhe caught the snitch with their lead then Ravenclaw would still have a chance for the cup especially after their loss to Gryffindor.

Tyler knew that if he caught the snitch then Slytherin would be in the prime running for the cup.

The both were drawing closer to the snitch's location until a green blur came and caused Reggie to spin and almost fall off his broom and caused Madam Hooch to blow the whistle. "FOUL!" She announced.

It was Gansley who fouled Reggie and it made it possible for Ravenclaw to get a foul shot giving them another 10 points. When the game restarted the snitch was out of sight again and Tyler let out a vent of frustration when Ravenclaw scored another 10 points. Sam, Gansley, and Crump tried to get by the Ravenclaw keeper but it wasn't working out too well. The beaters on the Ravenclaw end were targeting them whenever the quaffle was close to them so that they wouldn't intercept or attack to get it. Tyler had to admit that that strategy was better than Tanner telling Morgan that they were to focus on Reggie only.

After 25 more minutes, Ravenclaw was leading them at 340 to 190. Now, it was a matter of time before Ravenclaw claimed victory. Reggie was just motivated to look harder than he ever did for the snitch. He only wished that he could use his eagle form because his sight would get sharper and he would find it in no time but he couldn't waste his attention on wishing for hopeless things. He was going to move to another part of the quidditch pitch to avoid another bludger attack from Tanner when the whistle blew again.

'Not another foul?' he thought as he kept looking until he heard cheering. He looked and saw that Tyler had the snitch in his hand. 'What? When did that happen?' Reggie thought more confused than he ever been.

Tyler couldn't believe his luck as he raised the snitch for all to see. He was looking for the snitch as hard as he could and when Ravenclaw had scored the last goal he let out another frustrating sigh and looked up in impatience when he saw it right above him and then grabbed it without thinking. It wasn't long before the sound of Phil Villar rang through the stadium.

"The Slytherin seeker Solemn has caught the snitch! It's an EVEN score of 340 points a piece."

There was some general clapping from the Ravenclaws and among the Slytherins were some clapping but some were glaring or booing as if they lost.

Tyler headed down to the ground and decided to sit and wait for a while before heading to the changing rooms. He had no doubt that Tanner would start badgering him for not catching the snitch quicker. He would've loved to point out that it was his lame plan to focus the beaters' attention on only Reggie and not attack the other players but he knew he would be outnumbered and even though Morgan and Sam would agree with him, he was sure they wouldn't want to take on the other four team members since they were older and bigger than they were.

"Hey? Room for three more?" a voice said. Tyler turned and saw it was Brad and he was with Tyler and Reggie still in his gear.

"No, come on down."

"You know, I don't see why it's so bad. At least you didn't cause your team to lose," Jacke said trying to cheer his friend up.

"You're just saying that because now Gryffindor has a good chance at the cup," Tyler said narrowing his eyebrows and looking carefully at Jacke.

"Yeah, you're right about that," Jacke said a little cheerfully causing Tyler to smirk and made to slap the back of his head but he dodged. "C'mon, they can't blame you for what happened."

"Yeah, your friend Morgan and Tanner kept aiming at metrying to get me out of the match while my team's chasers and beater focused on your other players. The game plan you had really sucked."

"Hey Reggie, don't look at me. I didn't make those stupid calls. Tanner did and because of his stupidity, we didn't win."

"Neither did we," Reggie countered.

"Yeah, well, that's not the way that he and the other slytherins are going to see it. I'm going to dread going back to the common room. It's times like this that make me want to shock my housemates a little," Tyler said smirking at his punning joke.

"Well, you can't."

"Thanks Brad for ruining a little bit of peace I got from dreaming that."

"My pleasure."

"Thanks," he said sarcastically. Tyler felt a little better thanks to all this and decided that now was a good a time as ever to get changed. "Look, I gotta go change out of these robes. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, me too. I look completely a mess." Reggie said looking at his dirty and sweaty blue quidditch robes."

"I bet. You just want to change out of that before any cute girls get a good look of you up close," Brad said heading in his own direction.

"Hey I resent that!" Reggie yelled trying to sound offended before he took off.

"Well, I better go," Jacke said walking off as well.

Tyler headed for the Slytherin changing tent but on his way, he noticed a figure some distance away. He squinted to get a better look and recognized him as Lestrange. He was glaring at him and Tyler could only glare back. Obviously, he was upset at Tyler for catching the too late to win the game for them. He quickened his pace so he could avoid the chances of him getting jumped and nearly ran into the changing room. It was completely empty of anyone meaning that the other team members already changed. He changed into his school robes after he showered and then headed back out for the castle so he could meet up with Matt and the others but when he got to the lake he heard shouting.

"What do we have here?" a taunting voice said.

"Give that back!" another voice said with anger.

Tyler's stomach dropped since he recognized the two of them. It was Jacke's and Lestrange's voices. He saw two figures in the distance and saw that one was standing with his wand pointing down at him and the other was on the ground. He heard Lestrange's voice again.

"Why would a Gryffindor like yourself have something like this around your neck?"Lestrange said with a cross of taunting and anger.

"Give that back. I worked really hard to make that lionpendant and that snake charm was a gift!" Jacke said staring from Lestrange to the chain.

"A gift huh? Well, say no more since it's obvious where you got it from. I see that Solemn is more of a house traitor than I thought."

"Shut up and givethem back!" Jacke got up and ran for Lestrange but he cast another flipper hex to him sending him back down.

"Well, this should get you to take the message to stay out of Slytherin affairs Walker." Lestrange then took the snake charm off and through it toward the direction of the Giant Squid. It fell on one of it's tentacles causing the squid to grab it and eat it up like it was a treat.

Jacke's eyes opened in horror as he saw the silver snake that Tyler gave to him go to shreds at the hand or tentacles of the Giant Squid. "No!"

"Ah too bad. Now for charm number two."

"No, that's my pendant."Lestrange raised the chain with the lion charm that he worked so hard to make during the summer into a position to be thrown also toward the squid when something collided with him.

"Let that go Lestrange!" Tyler yelled standing over him. "Or else."

"Or else what Solemn?" Lestrange went and tackled Tyler to the ground. "It is good that you came, now, I have double the pleasure of throwing the garbage that Walker was wearing. No Gryffindor scum like him deserves to wear a proud symbol of Slytherin house and this lion pendant is better use as a part of a floor than around his neck." He raised is hand to throw the pendant while his other had his wand aimed at them but before he could complete his throw there was a angry hissing sound. They all looked down and saw that it was Chaos and he was beside Lestrange's feet. He had his fangs barred and let out a loud openmouth hiss at Lestrange. "Get back." Lestrange went to point his wand at Chaos and Tyler saw that as his chance.

He tackled Lestrange with all his might and ended up falling into the lake. Tyler tried very hard to wrestle the chain out of Lestrange's hands. Tugged at each other and kicked as they were spinning underwater. Tyler got a big break when one of the Giant Squid's tentacles went by Lestranges leg distracting him. It allowed Tyler to kick him in the head and free the chain and he quickly swam back to Jacke.

"Tyler? Are you okay."

Tyler was coughing a little but he smiled and held up Jacke's chain. "Yeah. I think you might want this back."

"You treacherous brats," Lestrange yelled as he surfaced. He had a broken nose and a scrap on his left cheek from when Tyler kicked him. He brandished his wand that started to have angry sparks leak out of it.

"What is going on here?" yelled a thunderous voice and they saw that it was the groundskeeper Hagrid. He looked from Tyler to Jacke to Lestrange with a look of curiousity. Even though Tyler and Jacke knew that Hagrid was gentle, he looked very intimidating.

Tyler could understand why he was concerned though. There was Jacke who had grass strewn all over his clothes, Lestrange wet with a bloody cheek and nose and himself completely drenched from head to toe. Jacke seemed a little worried and Lestrange had an emotional mask on so Tyler decided to jump in with an excuse. "Nothing Hagrid, we were just fooling around and we accidentally fell and landed in the lake with the Giant Squid having a go at us." He knew he was saving Lestrange's hide as well as his and Jacke's butif Lestrange was the only one who got in trouble then there would be no doubt he would strike back harder and with friends.

Hagrid seemed to accept this and said that Lestrange should go to the Hospital wing to get himself cleaned up. Lestrange passed by with a glare and muttered, "You'll regret this" as he passed by them.

"You should get going too. Suspect you'll be wantin' to talk to your friends about your match huh?" Hagrid said still looking

Jacke and Tyler nodded and took off for the castle together. "What happened to you?" Tyler asked when he was sure they were out of anyone's earshot.

"Lestrange. I was just sitting close to the lake and he came out and jumped me. I didn't have my wand so he brought me down easily and I couldn't use my elemental powers or animagus form so I was stuck. Said that I was part of the problem why you couldn't catch the snitch and he snatched up my chain for some kind of payback. Honestly, what is with that guy?"

"I don't know and frankly, I don't give a bloody damn. Keeps going on about how my cousin is going to get people like me, blood traitors like me, blah, blah, blah, blah. If I had the chance I'd give him a good fire whip to make him learn to shut up. Anyway," he said huffing the breath he'd been keeping in. "What were you doing out by the lake after the match anyway?"

"Oh," Jacke said turning his face away. "Just thinking." Jacke hid his face so Tyler wouldn't see him turn red. He had been thinking about Jennifer back at the lake. During the match, he had subconsciously grabbed Jenny's hand andit made him red and pull away from her before she would feel funny. Jacke spent the whole match trying not to look at her even though it was hard.

"Good place for it." Tyler said bewildered at how his best mate was acting. "Well, at least you still have your chain."

"Yeah, but, Lestrange destroyed the snake you gave me for it." He held out the chain to notice that the snake charm he gave him at the beginning of the term wasn't there anymore. "Sorry. I know what that snake meant to you."

"No...it's Lestrange's fault so don't apologize for it. You tried to save it. At least I was able to save your lion pendant. I know you wouldn't want to lose that after spending that time last summer making it. Don't worry."

"Oh and Tyler," Jacke said as they were about to separate on their different paths to their respective common rooms. "Thanks for helping me out back there."

"What's a best mate for?"

(-)

The month of May had arrived with a foul swoop. The seekers looked back and couldn't believe the time had passed by in a flash. It was as if they just got the Fecundity potion yesterday and now they were merely two weeks away from using it to create their sanctum of _Avalon_. Just to say the name made them excited to see all their hard work and planning come true was stimulating.

Jacke helped with drawing a blueprint map, as Brad liked to call it, of their island. So far itconsisted of a forest to the Northwestern region, a lake in the west, a small hill in the center with a tree that and they decided to make a manor to the north for themselves to do whatever they want or needed. The rest of Avalon was plain because they just couldn't make up their minds for what to put there; so they decided to leave it with plain grasslandsjust in case they had future ideas.

"This is it isn't it?" Brad asked as they finished the intial blueprint map. "We're finally going to be the first wizards since the founders to use the Potion of Fecundity."

"It is." Tyler said reminicing the memory. "Hard to believe that all this started with me having a tour of the Deep Level in my house because I was bored."

"Look what happened from boredom. Now if you guys could put more effort in getting your homework done instead of the last minute then who knows what that'll do for you," Reggie said with his own smirk.

"Nice try Reggie," Jacke said putting his hand on Reggie's shoulder. "Anyway, there isn't anything else to do. We've done everything we can do for Avalon. So, when do we use the potion? Tuesday? Wednesday? Saturday?"

"How about on Friday? Right after our last lessons. I think that would be good because if anyone notices us rushing then it won't look suspicious because everyone rushes to put their stuff away to enjoy the weekend." Reggie said shrugging.

"Once again Reggie, you've done it. You know, for someone who doesn't like breaking the rules, you sure have great ideas." Brad said nodding acceptance of his plan.

"Yeah, you sure are two faced." Jacke said giving him a lopsided grin.

"Well, even if it was Reggie who chose it, we are still using the potion in six days at last."

(-)

**End of Chapter 23**

Dark672: Thanks

Author Notes:

Whoa, hormones flying with Tyler and Jacke. I know Brad seems to be the only one that isn't getting any romantic action but don't give up hope for him since some are late bloomers. And isn't Lestrange such a git? Well he does become a Death Eater and was part of the torturing of the Longbottoms so it isn't unexpected. The next chapter will have the seekers using the potion at last and the school year will be wrapping up with a few othersurprises.

I'm sorry that this update wasn't as fast as usual but I've recently got less time on my hands so I'll hope you'll forgive me.

High Serpent King


	24. A New Haven

**Quest of the Seekers: A New Haven**

Year Three at Hogwarts

Chapter 24: A New Haven

_(break)_

"I win again," Matt said laying down his last card in Exploding Snap.

Tyler let out a breath of impatience at his 4th straight loss in a row. Morgan was watching the game with interest while Sam was choosing his new classes for next term, Lutz and his pal Bruce Baker were close studying for their end of the term exams coming up in less than two weeks.

"I must be at a dry spell now," Tyler said sinking into the chair he was sitting in. In truth, he didn't care that he lost but he knew it was best for Matt to have a time to rub it in someone's face for a while or he'll be a snapping wreck. Also, he didn't feel that he could concentrate with Morgan staring at him. Now, everything that she usually did before had started to make Tyler feel on edge and it was driving him crazy.

"Well whatever is causing you to lose against me, I won't be complaining about it," Matt said a little pompously.

"I'm sure you won't," Morgan said with pointed eyes.

Before anything else could happen, their head of house Professor Reckler appeared in the common room. That was surprising since Tyler couldn't remember any time when he had seen her enter the common room in his entire school life. She had a neutral expression on her face so nobody could tell if she was here for good or bad business. She let out an unnecessary whistle since everyone was looking in her direction anyway.

"Settle down everyone. I've come here because I have a bit of news that will affect everyone in this common room." This generated some murmur among all the slytherins but Tyler ignored it because he was deeply curious. "I'm here to announce that at the end of the term I will no longer be your Potions Professor or be your Head of House. This is due to the fact that I'm retiring at the end of June."

The common room exploded with talk as soon as Professor Reckler left with the subject of their Head's retirement. Tyler joined in with Matt and the others.

"Can you believe it?" Sam said amazed.

"Reckler retiring? I've only known her for less than a year."

"Same here Lutz. We didn't even get a chance to know if we were really going to like her or hate her."

"Trust me, you wouldn't have cared. She didn't really try to make us think any way of her," Morgan said brushing her hair with a wooden brush.

"Yeah, and we're going to have a new Potions Master? Maybe it'll be someone better. Mind you, I don't think she taught it well enough. She just gave us the page in our Potions texts to use when we were brewing." Tyler said without regret. He always thought that she was a little useless since she never actually put herself in the middle of their potion making saying if they were doing something right or wrong but only said something when it was finished. "Let's hope we get someone better; maybe it's time that we get some new blood around here."

"Hm...Maybe Tyler's right," Matt said seeming to consider this line of thinking.

"Of course I am."

"Tyler, don't start," Morgan said with a little warning in her voice that anyone who knew her would definitely take seriously.

"Yes Morgan," he said a little timidly that caused Morgan to laugh as well as the others and soon even Tyler joined in.

_(break)_

"Reggie, are you reading that book again?" Laura said to Reggie in the 3rd year boys dorm in Ravenclaw Tower.

Reggie was sitting off in his bed reading alone in the boys dormitory until Laura found him. He had been reading the book on Elementals that Tyler had taken from his house two years ago and Reggie was reading more into it.

"Yeah, I want to know more about elementals now that my friends and I have our powers unshackled by the Earth Spirit."

"But I thought you read everything in that book already. I remember in first year that you kept on poking your nose in that big book and now you're at it again? Can't you read something else?"

"I read your muggle book on folklore." Reggie said making a point.

"Okay...one different book but come on, something else."

"Why do you care so much about what I read?" Reggie asked befuddled at his friend's behavior.

"I don't, it's just that it's a boring sight to see you with that book and I'm sure the other girls wouldn't mind a change in your image too."

Reggie immediately put the book down at that. "Do you think this will be better for them?" he asked a little too anxiously.

"Reggie, sometimes, I swear, I think that when you're not thinking of studying, you're thinking about how to make yourself more appealing to the ladies."

"Duh." Reggie said with a stupid look to his face that was completely strange for him to have on.

"Anyway, why were you reading that thing again? Surely you finished it a hundred times."

"Well Laura I did, but the thing is that when I first read it, half the book was blank. And now, ever since I saw the spirit of the earth, the pages that were blank filled in."

"The pages filled in? How's that possible?"

"I don't know," Reggie said shrugging his shoulders with his gaze on the now closed book. "Still, the stuff that's in there now is so interesting. You won't believe some of the things I've read about wind elementals like me and some of lightning, fire and water elementals."

"Tell me what you think is the most special one." Laura said sitting beside Reggie seemingly excited by Reggie's tone.

"Well, it turns out that Elementals have the potential to...fly."

"Fly? But we can do that anyway."

"No, I mean without broomsticks. We would be able to fly as if we had wings."

"Wow, that's pretty amazing. Imagine that being an elemental has the potential to fly."

"Oh, wait, I've gotten ahead of myself. It says that out of the eight types of elementals only four of them have that potential only."

"Which ones?" Laura asked but it seemed that she already knew what Reggie was going to say.

"Fire, Water, Lightning and Wind. Metal, Earth, Wood and Ice elementals can't fly though."

"Still, it's sounds fantastic. I can't imagine that this bit of magic is of the Dark Arts. It sounds too beautiful to be evil."

"You know, you're right. I wonder why the Ministry classified the art of being an Elemental to be among the darkest of the Dark Arts."

_(break)_

June had broken and it had become the Friday that the Seekers planned for using the Potion of Fecundity. They couldn't afford anything to go wrong with their planning. They needed to get to the secret corridor but it was still on a staircase and there was always the chance that they would be seen. So, the seekers talked it over with Professor Squall and came up with a plan. Since Defense was Tyler's last class on that friday, Squall would simply ask for Tyler to stay after class and he would also ask the others' heads of houses to bring Jacke, Reggie and Brad to him after their last class for a private chat. Then he would escort them to that corridor like they were being led to detention.

The plan was good for all four of them and Jacke just had to comment on it to Tyler. "Honestly Tyler, your godfather surely is the coolest teacher here."

"Tell me something I don't know Jacke," Tyler said with a smile at the compliment toward his godfather.

Tyler had already poured some of the potion into a big flask that he "borrowed" from the Potion's classroom and corked it. Tyler was waiting anxiously for Defense class to be over even thoughhis godfatherwas teaching an excellent lesson on werewolves. Brad and Jacke were in Greenhouse 4 and were making mistakes which Professor Sprout took off points for because they too were anxious for their class to be over so they could use the potion. Reggie was in Ancient Runes and even though he was also anxious he had the self control to focus on runes used for propelling broomsticks. When the bell rang, the first phase of the plan went off without a hitch. Tyler was held back and Jacke, Reggie and Brad were all told that Professor Squall required their presence in his office. He escorted them to the place where the secret corridor was hidden and left them to their business after insuring them that the coast was clear.

They entered the dusty corridor and Tyler reached into his bag for the potion flask while Jacke took out the blueprint map of Avalon and Brad took out the outline for the front portrait portal. They walked over to the blank canvas on the wall and Tyler uncorked the vile. "This is it." He said bringing all the emotion of suspense and long lasting anxiousness to the room with just those three words.

"Let's see if what Orichai told us is true," Reggie said with his gaze on the Fecundity Potion.

"Let's get creative," Brad said looking toward the empty canvas.

"Honestly, let's not put this off any more. If we don't use the potion this very second then I swear I could kill somebody," Jacke said deeply excited.

"Okay, okay," Tyler said smiling at his anxious friend.

He poured a drop on the canvas and immediately the four of them focused on the outline of the painting that they planned to have there. In a flash, there was a painting of four teenage wizards in different quidditch robes coming from four sides with their hands outstretched for a snitch in the middle. The background had a sunset orange to it with clouds here and there.

"It worked, look at painting, it's brilliant." Brad said gazing at the new portrait.

"We created the potrait for our portal," Tyler said feeling pride at what they've done.

"That's not all," Jacke said looking around.

The seekers turned their gaze and found that all the dust and cobwebs that couldn't be removed had been cleaned away and the room had a distinct shine to it like it was brand new.

"How did this happen?" Reggie said stroking the wall with his finger and amazed to see it clean.

Tyler looked on and was just as stumped as Reggie. Jacke didn't have a clue what had happened either but Brad had a look of comprehension form on his face. "I think I know."

"What Brad?" Jacke said looking at his friend.

"Well, when Tyler poured the potion, I kinda wished that this place wasn't so dirty and I guess it did that too."

"Whoa, if the potion made our portrait portal and cleaned the corridor to perfection in one drop, then we could bet Orichai wasn't joking about the power this stuff has," Reggie said looking from the portrait to the potion still in Tyler's hands.

"Well, let's try some more," Tyler said going to the portrait again. "Alright, let's focus on making Avalon like we envisioned it."

"I'm with you Tyler," Reggie said standing right next to him.

"Sounds good to me," Jacke said standing on his other side.

"Don't forget about me," Brad said standing beside Reggie.

Tyler poured more of the potion slowly on the painting while the four of them closed their eyes and put all the details of their planning and imagination into action. They put everything they memorized on their blueprint map in their minds as the canvas started to glow and let out a soft humming noise. The potion was soon emptied and the humming stopped and all four of the seekers opened their eyes. They just stared at the painting with tension and hesistance like it would be like walking into a full grown dragon's lair. After what seemed like forever, Jacke stepped up.

"Well, let's see if we did it or not. I don't want to be staring at this all day and not do anything. Let's see if it works." Jacke was doing his best to sound like he wasn't afraid but truth be told, he was terrified. He didn't know if it worked or if it didn't work or if the portal would lead not to Avalon but to hell instead but he knew that the others were too scared to go first so he thought that he might as well since, after all, he is the gryffindor of the bunch. "The Gryffindor Seeker is seeking today." he told the portrait.

The quidditch player in red nodded it's head in the painting and all of a sudden, canvas itself started to respond which meant that the password system they chose worked. The portrait slid open and beyond, they all saw what seemed to be an elegant room with polished maple wood floors and other paintings like it was a mansion's study. Jacke stepped in and felt like he was going through a very thin wall of water. He found himself in that room which was seen back in the corridor. He saw a window draped to his right and saw a half opened door with sunlight spilling from it. He was about to step over to it when he saw Tyler come in from the Portrait Hole Portal. Then Brad came in followed by Reggie with the Portrait Hole shutting behind him.

"Wow, I guess it worked." Brad said taking in the room.

"Yeah, this has got to be the mansion that we put in our plans to be at the northern part of the island." Reggie said taking in the appearance of the room too.

"Well than, let's check out the actual island outside first before we check out the rest of the mansion." Tyler said with an eye on the door.

"You read my mind," Jacke said before rushing to the door and pushing it open.

The scenery of Avalon was indeed breathtaking. There was healthy, green short grass everywhere with occasional trees here and there and the area had a hint of a type of air that Tyler or Jacke had ever taken in but Brad and Reggie could tell that it was sea-air. Behind them, about 20 feet was a cliff and beyond was the ocean. Tyler had never seen the ocean before from the look of his face and also, neither had Jacke. Brad took in a breath of the sea air since it had been ages since he had last tasted it while Reggie just smiled at the scenery because he tasted this air for a couple of times over the years.

"Just breathe in that sea air," Brad said with a face full of bliss. "I just love it."

"I've never seen the ocean before. I was always couped up in my home with my family and I never went anywhere other than Diagon Alley and been once or twice in Hogsmeade but that's all," Tyler said taking the size of the ever expanding ocean though beyond was the dark setting of the fog barrier which they planned and imagined.

"Tyler, you never saw the ocean before?" Reggie asked a little surprised.

"No." he said starting to feel left out all of a sudden.

"Don't feel so bad Tyler because I've never travelled very much so I never saw the ocean either." Jacke said gazing at the water and wondered how the ocean could be so blue.

"But Jacke, wouldn't you have traveled alot because of your father's work in the Department of Magical Games and Sports?" Tyler asked a little confused.

"Yeah, but we always took Portkeys to the places where we went and were never near any water so no."

The started to walk in the opposite direction which was south to find that Avalon seemed to be extended for what seemed like forever but they knew it was 2 miles. They saw the forest that they put to the eastern part of the island that reminded them of the pleasant look of the Forbidden Forest though people knew better but in this forest, they knew it was deserted. As they got more distance from the mansion, they saw that it was a three story one, with a good hint of gray coloring and made of brick and stone. Tyler smiled at it because it reminded him of his home back in the Great Down Mountains back at Sussex England. The further down into the heart of Avalon they walked then the weaker the scent of the ocean was. They walked and came to what they believed to be the mid-center of the island since they came up to the plateau hill they made.Reggie was the influence in this because it reminded him of a place he was at when he was a kid; a hill with a tree on the top where it had an amazing view. They reached the top of the plateau and from there they could just make out the whole island but barely. They saw the lake just beyond the forest's end on the eastern part of the island. They saw the bare space to the west where they didn't have enough imagination for anything...yet, they could make out the mansion at the north and on the southeastern and western tips they could see the small sandy beaches that they thought was a good touch from what Brad said about them.

"Whoa...brilliant," Jacke said taking in the view and setting himself down by the tree half sitting, half laying down.

"Yeah," Brad said following his example and putting his back on the opposite side of the tree from Jacke. "It sure is."

"I can stare at it forever," Reggie said sitting down to the tree as well.

"We did great, didn't we?" Tyler said taking in the last available spot to lean on the tree so that they were on the four sides of it. "No one who would come here would guess that the four of us created this whole place." he said feeling very proud.

"Don't forget, we had a little bit of help," Jacke said catching Tyler's egotiscal tone.

"A little? I wouldn't call the most powerful potion and greatest power in this world a little bit of help Jacke," Reggie said chuckling.

"Yeah, we didn't exactly get shovels and dig this place up from the water." Brad said closing his eyes and feeling the breeze.

"Okay, we get it." Tyler said ending that trail of discussion. "Still...this has been one hectic year even by our standards."

"And it's not over yet. We go to America together in over 2 months." Brad said with excitement in his voice.

"Oh right. So, Brad, what's the final list, who's all the people that are coming?" Reggie asked.

"Let's see, there's the four of us, my parents, my sister,"

"Hey, I didn't know you had a sister," Tyler interrupted. "Is it big or little?"

"Little sister and you never did ask me about that didn't you."

"I can see I'm having an influence on your sense of humor Brad," Tyler said in between laughing.

"Yeah, let's see, oh, there's also my old muggle friend, you'll like him, my grandpa, and that's about it." Brad said counting them off his fingers. "My parents planned for us to stay inthefive boroughs of New York City for our trip."

"Wow, New York City, I think they call it the Big Apple over there," Reggie said with thought.

"I think there's a Wizard's School in that Area too." Jacke said equally with thought. "I think that my dad told me that once or maybe I read about it in a school listing."

"Well whatever is there, we'll experience it to the best that we can. I don't know about you three, but I want to take in as much from this trip as I can." Tyler said excited at going to another country for the summer.

They stayed in silence until Jacke brought something that was on his mind.

"Do you think that we should invite our friends and Professor Squall to come here since they do know we were planning to do this?" Jacke said turning serious.

"Yeah, but we don't have to do that right away," Tyler said getting himself ready for a nap. "At least we have this place to replace the cave to train and develop our powers without worry of being caught, a new haven."

(break)

The time after the Seekers created Avalon could be described as that of typical hogwarts students. Now that the time they put into creating Avalon was now free, they used that time tohave the experienceslike thirteen year old students should have.

They hung around with each other and their house friends, studied for end of the year tests and thought of the quidditch cup. The last game which was Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff had some shocking results. For the first time that anyone could remember, Hufflepuff had won the quidditch cup. In the match, Gryffindor had only scored one goal and while Hufflepuff managed to score two right before Brad caught the snitch before Jacke did. The snitch was spotted very early in the game and Brad beat Jacke to the punch awarding the cup to Hufflepuff.The Gryffindors did congratulate them but they were still feeling terrible over the loss of the cup which had been their's for the last two years straight after they won it from Slytherin. The Slytherins and Ravenclaws were more shocked then disappointed for they knew it would be a long shot should the cup be either of theirs with that tie but for it to go to Hufflepuff when it seemed Gryffindor had it in the bag was mindboggling.

The month of June came and went as fast as an lightning elemental letting out a bolt. They were unsurprised at the marks that each of them got on their final exams since the four of them recognized their strengths in their classes. The four of them did get high marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts as did many of the student body. Professor Squall tried not to looked to pleased with himself to the other professors of his ability to get students to actually catch on to his work. The sad part was that he would be leaving and Tyler above all would greatly miss seeing him at the castle and mourned that they wouldn't see him next term.

"It won't be the same without you Timothy. You were the best DADA teacher we all ever had and...you're...like the uncle I never had." he told him as he volunteered to help him with his packing.

"Don't worry Tyler. This isn't going to be the last time we see each other and you can always use your owl Pandy to keep in touch with me."

"Yeah...but what if you get hurt. You are an Auror and there is a war going on thanks to my cousin."

"Look Tyler," he said grabbing his shoulders. "I can take care of myself. I've been trained well and I know how to look out for myself on the field. It's been great teaching here and getting to spend time with you but I have to go back. Look...seeing you here has really helped raise my spirits. You're everything anyone could hope for in a godson and I am proud to see that Simon didn't raise a fool." Tyler laughed a little at this and Timothy continued. "Remember Tyler, I'm just an owl away if you need me and I'll be there."

The end of the term feast was already in motion and the Great Hall was decorated in Yellow and Black and Professor Sprout could be seen in tears. The points were collected and it turned out that points collected Hufflepuff's win of the quidditch cup was enough to give them the house cup by barely topping Slytherin. The headmaster Professor Dumbledore stood and announced that Professor Reckler was retiring and also was giving Professor Squall a formal farewell which caused the school to give him a great clapping ovation.

Tyler was with his slytherin pals on the train as he thought that he was lacking in spending time with them because of the excitement of creating Avalon.

"Another year." Matt said looking out the window.

"Yeah," Tyler said stroking Pandy's feathers while Chaos was snoozing in his trunk. "My most adventurous yet."

"And our most shocking one (pun intended)," Morgan said looking at Tyler causing him to redden a little.

"Hey Tyler, Matt, would the two of you consider coming over to my house over the summer?" Regulus said from the book of curses he was reading.

"Oh Regulus, I'd like that but you know I'm going to the US with the other seekers in August."

"No, I meant for a weekend."

"Oh, yeah, that'd be great."

"I would like that too," Matt said considering it. "But why?"

"Oh, my parents have heard so much from me about the two of you and they said that they should meet the two of you sometime and I thought this would be perfect."

"Sure, why not." Matt said shrugging his shoulders.

"Yeah, okay," said Tyler.

"Good, I'll owl when you guys could."

They arrived at Platform 9 and 3/4 where Tyler said his goodbyes to Regulus, Matt, Morgan, Sam, and Lutz when his parents came up to him. Before they got the portkey ready, Tyler spotted his fellow seekers saying goodbye to their house friends and he went to them to say goodbye.

"Bye guys," he said as he gave them each a good handshake.

"Bye Tyler. See you in a month. I better go because I'm sure my parents are waiting for me on the other side," he said before he went through the barrier to the muggle world.

"See ya." Reggie said as he headed to his parents.

"Bye mate." Jacke said as he went to his mother.

"Tyler," his father said. "Portkey's ready."

"Coming." And soon he was off, traveling back to the Slytherin Mansion.

_(break)_

**End of Chapter 24**

Tigercub15: Great that you think so. Also, with Tyler and Morgan, I am going to go more into that but I don't want to spoil any surprises that I have in store for them which I guarantee will blow your mind.

Dark 675: Glad you think it was brilliant.

Author Notes: Well there's the end of the third segment of the Seekers Series. I know that the ending seemed rushed but there wasn't anything else that was going to be going on after they finished Avalon. I've already developed plans for my fourth story and it's turning out that it might be way bigger and better than any of the three stories were chapter wise but every one of them will be worth it. Also, for some reason the marksthat I used to put to show breaks in my story don't stay on anymore with the Document Manager so I have to use this now, _(break),_ so don't mind them.

High Serpent King

Coming Soon...

**Quest of the Seekers: The Timeless Conflict**

**Year Four**

If the four interhouse friends thought that the creation of Avalon was tough then they knew absolutely nothing. The Seekers are in for one hell of an action packed year where everything they know about the wizarding world is about to change. Starting with a summer trip to America, they come across a gang of American wizards their age that creates a major bump on their American trip. But that's just the summer, for when they return to Hogwarts, they encounter a series of events that gets them to know the true history of events that broke up the Hogwarts four and what started the great house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin.To make matters worse, an old enemy forceof the Hogwarts School that time itself had forgotten until now resurfaces and it makes the threat of Tyler's cousin He who must not be Named seem like common bullying. The only thing that stands in it's way of total domination of the entire world are Tyler Slytherin, Jacke Walker, Reginald Falkner, Brad Carter and their band of friends as they find out the truth behind the founders past which changes everything. New friends and old will be introduced followed by new enemies both human and not. Let's hope they can accomplish all this and still keep their grades up.


End file.
